General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust got a rude wake up from Amazon Prime
January first - must be new rules time.
Was looking for something to watch and plugged into my Prime account. All of a sudden I had to pay for stuff that I was watching for free yesterday.
I am not amused. This will make me rethink how much I really want to keep paying for the special perks.
However, I can now see Brother Cadfael for free. Guess a thirty year old series is cheap enough for them to throw the masses.
Happy but not amused.
mahina
(17,717 posts)Some are free or were.
Happy family memories when we were all together.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)With the occasional foray into House.
Now all of them require payment.
Pissed.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)really get value from the free music. Havent had to buy a CD or other digital music in years, even obscure stuff. Listen to a lot of stuff once, and move on. If theyve changed that, . . . . . .
TheBlackAdder
(28,232 posts)redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)I am considering not sending Amazon a dime in the next year and see how that goes. We have lots of local stores in our area including a locally owned grocery chain that I like. Until they breakup Amazon, I think they are killing main street.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)But Season 3 costs way more and I'm not buying it.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)I am talking about Amazon Prime.
I have a subscription to Hulu. Cant imagine that they charge for their own programming.
Will check.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)I don't have Hulu.
Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)mwooldri
(10,303 posts)I have two trials to Amazon Prime that need cancelling. One UK and one US. My wife has Prime, we don't need three Prime subscriptions.
Yup, Amazon has rights via Prime only for so long - things available on one streaming service one minute then yanked to another the next.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)Skittles
(153,226 posts)now I can still see the episodes but they're not available for me - does not mention fees.....wtf
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)the original series, that is.
1) EVERYONE SMOKED, EVERYWHERE!!
2) Everyone was so much THINNER!
3) Perry could send a child diving in a pond to get a container of cyanide capsules and no one thinks twice about it!
4) The cars look like they could easily drive through buildings!
5) I was at almost 30 episodes and have yet to see a gal in pants!
6) DELLA keeps Perry afloat!
7) Paul Drake is a HOOT!
feel free to add your own!
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)morning, noon and night
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Hard to believe in these more cynical times, but back then criminals really did frequently leap up while observing someone else's trial and spontaneously confess.
P.S., I LOVE #3. That one's a real winner.
Bob Loblaw
(1,900 posts)Those were my favorites. And how did the prosecutor Hamilton Burger, keep getting elected without ever getting a conviction?
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)As for Burger, maybe it all evened out in Ozzie-and-Harrietland since he was apparently always prosecuting the wrong person?
Okay, I'm hooked. I'm going to have to find some reruns. My husband can enjoy the old cars too.
2naSalit
(86,868 posts)Skittles
(153,226 posts)but no one jokingly calls him Ham - what's up with that?
2naSalit
(86,868 posts)I laughed really hard when I figured that out and I could never look at that show the same way after that. Made me wonder if there was some kind of underlying satire that I was missing. So it seemed more like a Dick Tracey comic sort of thing forever after.
IcyPeas
(21,918 posts)like at 1:00 in the morning or thereabouts. (I guess it depends if your tv channels carry ME-TV)
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)once at 9am and another episode at 11:30 pm
FreeState
(10,585 posts)They just added to their streaming service.
Maeve
(42,300 posts)The day I planned to binge the final season
On the bright side, that was the worst season
stillcool
(32,626 posts)or we used to. My husband thinks it has something to do with CBS, which owns the rights I guess...and there is a new Perry Mason series/movie(?) in the works, which might have something to do with it. Pure speculation, of course.
pansypoo53219
(21,004 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)Sad.
question everything
(47,549 posts)Kaleva
(36,371 posts)Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)question everything
(47,549 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)And presumably Jan 1 is a bigger "bump" than most months are.
Kaleva
(36,371 posts)JDC
(10,136 posts)Kaleva
(36,371 posts)obamanut2012
(26,164 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)Plus a bunch of movies that had been free.
Note, this is only what I was following.
FreeState
(10,585 posts)Their own streaming service and are consolidating their shows to that platform. (NBC is doing the same).
dhol82
(9,353 posts)Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)But we're now seeing existing contracts end for a lot of series they licensed out previously, which is why they're shifting.
Kaleva
(36,371 posts)I just checked.
It's free in so far as one pays for Prime. If you don't subscribe to Prime, then you have to pay for it.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)Dont think I have gone past season 8.
Was just advised that I needed to pay for watching.
Kaleva
(36,371 posts)I pay for Amazon Prime and when I looked at the channel, I see that i can watch all 8 seasons without paying extra. I don't know about the other 2 series you mentioned but another poster did say you have to pay to watch those.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)CSI and Numb3rs have switch to paid.
I don't have a subscription for the video - but I had noticed recently that I had to be careful because they were intermingling more paid programs in the display.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)This whole streaming thing thing is getting out of hand.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)but we have Netflix. The offerings have always been different between Netflix and Amazon. Both are still a lot cheaper than cable (our only other alternative - since over-the-air TV does not exist where we live, post- analog to digital conversion)
Came home from New Years Eve and flipped it on. Sorry Sucker! Pay up. Oh wait, you already pay for Prime. Pay again!
Kaleva
(36,371 posts)To watch them, you pay CBS All Access (Viacom). Just like if I wanted to watch HBO on Amazon Prime. I would have to subscribe to HBO.
Pay more money. Now MORE money. Frasier used to come with Prime and Netflix. Now suddenly it doesn't. I'll await my rebate for all the removed shows. Luckily, I own Frasier CDs, so I won't be handing out more money to other services just to get that. I may even ditch Netflix. They aren't good for movies and I've watched everything they have that interests me. Maybe pick up Britbox, there's some stuff on there I want to see. Musical streaming services.
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)the movies/tv.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)Did not ever get a notification about this.
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)change anything but they should be told.
FreeState
(10,585 posts)The right holders for the content changed the terms. Amazon (or any other supplier of content that is licensed) has no option but to play by the rules which are set by the studios. Lots of shows getting yanked at the beginning of the year is typical. NBC is pulling a shows of multiple platforms as they get ready to launch their streaming service as well (Friends etc).
dhol82
(9,353 posts)FreeState
(10,585 posts)Its awful. Id send them a note:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/
Lars39
(26,117 posts)What books and movies are leaving Prime, and whats going to be newly available, too.
Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)since hulu,netflix, and others go through the same process.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)Amazon doesn't acquire its content for free, so they anything that is available on a pay-per-view could be included in the Amazon subscription as long as Amazon pays the (likely higher) fees. In other words, as long as the content is available for licensing, Amazon determines what licensed to include in the content they provided to end users without additional charge.
FreeState
(10,585 posts)Are no longer available to be licensed as the studios are pulling them to be available only on their wn streaming platforms.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)Perry Mason being the only exception, I think.
FreeState
(10,585 posts)There are several moving pieces in the streaming industry. The studios are finding their footing and creating tiers of shows apparently. I.e:
1) Exclusive (only available with us).
2) Licensed Exclusive (available to studio and one streaming service).
3) Available to all with a license.
4) pay per view (exclusive and licensed variables)
5) purchase titles
6) embedded channels
*edit to add this is my observations over the past couple years, I more than likely am missing some things. Im not sure how they figure out which titles they make available but Im sure its on monitory value of viewership.
And then we have NBC which is going to launch their platform as an ad supported offering - no fees.
PlayStation Vue - arguably the best streaming service for live TV is going under January 31st too. Not thrilled with the options that are left (not a fan of YouTube or ATT).
Lots of areas and directions they are trying.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)Cable has pretty much priced itself out of the market - especially with competition from market disrupters. Many of the new options seem to be internet versions of prior cable channels - struggling to find new ways to compete.
We never did buy into cable. Until the mandatory analog to digital conversion, we never paid for TV at all. And I wasn't about to pay $25-$100/ month for the shows I'd been getting for free. So when we could no longer get free TV, we switched to Netflix at ~$7/month. (We can't get digital signals - even though we had relatively decent analog signals.) Others got fed up with cable fees - but for them it was a down shift, rather than an upshift. But the end result was that cable was able to command far less of the market, and couldn't attrach new users to replace them.
when I priced cutting the cord, it wasn't that much cheaper to get basic national networks, PBS, and then the content we do watch, and we're not even a TV-heavy family. Our sports are tennis and figure skating. Add in WiFi, and giving up cable didn't really pay.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)if you're keeping the basic national networks, PBS, and content you watch.
Cutting the cord means no cable bill, not no cable bill beyond the basics (which is part of the reason cable companies are pricing themselves out of the market and are looking for ways to reinvent themselves - there are NO reasonable cable bills, when compared to other sources for videos/TV shows.)
Our cable bill is (and always has been) $0.
Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)Duh.
Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)Good one.
I'd also suggest:
* Take a walk
* Grow a houseplant
* Have a face-to-face conversation
* Do something, anything to help others
There's probably a brazillion things one could conjure up to pass the time instead of staring slack-jawed at a screen.
Judi Lynn
(160,655 posts)I always run off, instead!
dhol82
(9,353 posts)I do all of the above. Still occasionally like to watch some old shows.
Guess in your world that makes me a dumb blonde?
Nature Man
(869 posts)do anything you damn well please, it's a free country, sorta.
yellowdogintexas
(22,280 posts)Back when I was watching The Good Wife, I'd have to wait 6 months until the new season moved to Prime. There were several others as well.
I really enjoy Prime and all the other advantages.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)Just frustrating that I didnt know it was being changed so I could have done some proactive binge watching.
I do like prime for the shipping.
RobinA
(9,898 posts)to Prime is that you can get most movies, even if you have to pay for them. Post video store there just isn't a good source of lots of movies when you want them. This is why I will never ditch Prime. Netflix, on the other hand, is crap for movies and now that I'm caught up with the British Baking Show may be expendable. I generally don't like their original content.
Bettie
(16,133 posts)have shows come and go all the time, especially now when so many new services are coming online.
Not unusual for a show to move from one platform to another.
obamanut2012
(26,164 posts)Google, "What is leaving NAME OF STREAMING SERVICE in MONTH," AS WELL AS "What is coming to STREAMING SERVICE in MONTH." Licensing agreements, contracts, etc. changes all the time.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)Thanks.
RobinA
(9,898 posts)streaming for about a year and wasn't aware of this. Streaming, like most new technologies, has some advantages but isn't quite what one hopes it would be.
matt819
(10,749 posts)Audiobooks, tv shows, etc. Contracts with publishers change, rights change, etc. Shows disappear, other shows appear. It sucks, but it's not Amazon or Amazon Prime being underhanded. On Audible, for example, books available in the US are not available in the UK, and vice versa. It's annoying. Shows I've watched disappear and reappear elsewhere - I've noticed this with foreign shows, some of which I become addicted to.
Don't get me wrong. Like almost everyone, I have a love-hate relationship with Amazon. On the merchant side, it's a major rip off for small businesses, for a whole host of reasons, and I cancelled my merchant account because of it. But the other stuff? It happens. And, yes, it does seem supremely weird to be paying to watch 30-year-old shows.
BannonsLiver
(16,530 posts)Not really that unusual.
PatSeg
(47,674 posts)than I get from other services. On top of the free two day shipping, I get an incredible selection of movies and TV shows, many made for Amazon. I particularly like British television and Amazon has the best selection.
With all the services, some movies and TV shows leave as new ones come in. Often the contracts for them has expired.