To all of the lovers of televised entertainment, I have some bad news for you: TV is ruined.
There once was a time when I could turn the TV on and watch anything I wanted from a seemingly infinite number of channels. Then, cable became ridiculously expensive, so I turned to Netflix.
If you think that turning to streaming services is a good idea like I did, think again. When my family first subscribed to Netflix, it was $9.99 for the standard plan. Now it’s $15.49 per month.
And Netflix isn’t the only streaming service that’s ripping off customers. My sister purchased a Disney+ plan a few years ago, and it was $6.99 with no ads. Now, the $6.99 plan comes with ads, and she pays $13.99 for the standard plan.
But if you really want to waste money, sign up for Max. Their lowest-priced plan is $9.99 and comes with advertisements.
The saddest part about this is that a lot of people turned to streaming services to avoid the commercial breaks that they get with cable. Now, you either have to deal with ads or fork out an extra $5 a month to be ad-free.
You may think that the solution to this problem is to limit yourself to one or two streaming services — that would definitely save you money. Now, however, a lot of the shows and movies I love are scattered between multiple providers. There isn’t a single service that has it all. Every day, I feel like I discover a new one. AMC+, Starz, Discovery+ — where did they all come from? I feel like every TV channel has suddenly decided to create its own streaming service.
The multitude of options and increase in prices have made it increasingly difficult to watch TV. I miss the days when I could turn the TV on and watch reruns of my favorite childhood shows on Disney. Now, they’re all blocked behind a paywall.
That’s why I say, with a heavy heart, that TV has been ruined.
