Forum Discussion

Johnc9491's avatar
Johnc9491
Newbie
9 months ago

Tired of paying to watch commercials

I really dislike that Roku and the streaming services make me watch commercials. Even when you pause and come back later you are forced to watch the commercials. On live streams you are forced to watch commercials on content whenever the live channel is showing a commercial.  I don’t need the next medicine, weight loss or sleep/energy product.  I pay a lot of money for these subscriptions on top of Internet service and find that all the live content force you to watch commercials. Streaming TV is horrible and has a clumsy interface, that is different for every service, and won’t even do slow-mo or show you the video when fast forwarding. To fast forward “recorded” shows, Roku says you need to hit the FF button once for each 30 seconds. Can’t it detect commercials like TiVo and other services have for years?  This approach is horrible and I constantly find myself having to  go back because the fixed 30 second increment went past the point I needed to go. To be fair Roku is not alone and like other streaming devices only provide gateways to the various content providers, each of which have a different user interface, commercial policy, etc. I want my TiVo DVR and cable solution back!  

app feature

2 Replies

  • Strega2's avatar
    Strega2
    Roku Guru
    9 months ago

    Cable and TiVo still exist.  As do cable DVRs, and satellite and satellite DVRs.  The Dish Hopper 3 can record 16 shows at once and skip ads on anything.  Of course, there are ad-free things on Roku too, from Netflix, Paramount+, Prime, Max, etc. Roku gets most of their money from ads and distribution deals, so I think it’s unlikely that they will bite the hand that feeds them.

    I prefer the Hopper 3 for watching commercial TV channels (without the commercials.)  Costs more than Roku but: getting what you pay for seems to apply.  I stopped watching commercials with my first TiVo in 1999 and I’m too used to that to go back.

    • atc98092's avatar
      atc98092
      Community Streaming Expert
      9 months ago

      Johnc9491 Depending on the streaming service you are watching, you are likely not paying to watch commercials. You bought the hardware, in this case a Roku device. That purchase did not include any streaming service. It does provide a platform that hundreds, if not thousands, use to provide content. Many of these services are free, but they insert advertisements to pay the cost of streaming the content. Many providers require a subscription, and even then there could be ads based on the subscription level you pay for.

      For channels like The Roku Channel, you pay nothing for the content, but must tolerate ads throughout the playback. Amazon has started adding ads at the beginning of some of their content, which you can remove by paying a higher subscription rate. I believe Netflix now has (or will soon add) a price tier that includes ads. 

      So, in most cases you are not paying anything to watch content that might contain ads. If they are so objectionable, then you must pay the fees necessary to be provided content without ads. Depending on the service, that simply isn't possible, as the provider doesn't offer an ad-free subscription level.