I’m only a fair-weathered sports fan, aka I tend to watch Packers’ games when they play the Bears or they’re in the playoffs. However, I would say that meme is spot-on whenever I watch Fox’s Animation Domination Sundays or Futurama‘s brief run on Comedy Central. Just too damned many commercials! What’s the point? We paid to get access and yet the money isn’t enough. Plus, my other huge gripe is how overpriced the numerous products being plugged ad nauseum are. Remember, Liberty Mutual, Allstate, Progressive and GEICO are pissing away almost 20 cents of every dollar you paid them to clog up the airwaves on “savings.” It’s even more sickening with healthcare. The phone carriers are even bigger offenders. Who gives a shit regarding AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile! People only buy a phone with a plan about every two, maybe three years, some even longer. Throw in all the stadium-naming rights, I’m pretty confident my monthly iPhone bill could be at least $20 less given how we’re still using Nineties tech. Given the arrogance of Amerika’s corporations, we know they’ll never roll the savings into employee salaries, upgrading the tech, competitive pricing and most importantly, good customer service not tied to customer retention.
I think the streaming services are proving what the BBC has done for decades. If we pay for the content more directly, then we can ditch the ads. In the UK it’s a TV tax which is anathema to Amerikans yet when you repackage it as a monthly/annual subscription, they’re alright with it while being unaware the price. I don’t find Jim Gaffigan terribly funny but he said it best, “Why don’t we just bundle all the streaming services together and call it cable.” It proves my al a carte model.