On a 7 channel setup? Most music buffs love their 2 channel setups. I’d imagine anyone that spends time building a system actually likes movies and has a collection of some sort.
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Plex's Ad-Supported Free Video on Demand Feature Now Available Worldwide
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Just tried it out, and it’s very limited and very lame. First off, there’s no way to set a content filter. I’d love to set it to only show G - PG-13 movies, but there’s no setting for that! So as a result, the library is laden with trashy, B-class R-rated movies. My Plex account is MY account — I should be in charge of what ratings can or can’t appear. Secondly, there’s no way to view the entire library of available ad-supported movies. It’s all automatically curated. One of the big things that makes Plex so good (and sets it apart from other apps) is that you can view an entire library listed alphabetically, but they’ve removed that feature with these free movies. There’s also no way to integrate the movies into your normal library. They’re only available within a separate library. It’s lame. Anyway, in short, it’s a cool idea to stream free ad-supported movies, but it’s a very bad implementation.
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As I said, I love movies. I watch a ton of movies, and I put in the effort to have a system that lets me enjoy the really good ones the way they were intended. I just also think that the lion's share of movies and tv don't really earn my full attention, let alone a monthly subscription. That's also why I don't spend a lot of time in theaters anymore.
Me too. I love Pluto TV (and I like Xumo). But I too was brought up on broadcast TV and still use an antenna to get OTA channels (and use a DVR to timeshift programs and ffwd through commercials).
I have a lifetime subscription to Plex and this additional service might just be another good option.
As long as I'm not the one being brainwashed and manipulated then bring on the ad-supported free content!
? I've never been influenced by the ads I've seen on TV... scratch that... Red Lobster ads get me every time. ?
As long as the streaming quality is more than just 1080p and high end audio quality I say alright more free movie streaming with ads than great but the problem with free movies with ads almost every free streaming movie service have the same movies the licensing for any movie to be free still seems to be really strict.
Pluto (and now Plex) serve as great examples of how cheap some programming must be and how easy it is for Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu to pad their libraries so that they can pitch "Over ##0,000 titles available!"
If it's free (in that I'm not paying more this month versus last month but now have access to it) then great. As others have mentioned, that's been the model for 100 years of broadcast TV. The problem, though, is that for the past 20 years, I've been using DVRs (some may remember ReplayTV) and most of the services today that offer "streaming plus ads" are worse than I had it in the late 1990s. That is, even then, I could SKIP advertisements on non-live programming. I could pause at any place and, with Replay, even auto-skip the ads. Today, you're blocked from a lot of that and watching a 40-minute program still takes the full hour.
If it's free (in that I'm not paying more this month versus last month but now have access to it) then great. As others have mentioned, that's been the model for 100 years of broadcast TV. The problem, though, is that for the past 20 years, I've been using DVRs (some may remember ReplayTV) and most of the services today that offer "streaming plus ads" are worse than I had it in the late 1990s. That is, even then, I could SKIP advertisements on non-live programming. I could pause at any place and, with Replay, even auto-skip the ads. Today, you're blocked from a lot of that and watching a 40-minute program still takes the full hour.
Ad supported? I can deal with it as long as it’s a non-edited full movie and not 7-8 minutes of the movie, 3 minutes of commercials over and over. Maybe two five minute commercials at each end of the movie.
No interest in ad-supported content. It’s simple. The few dollars I pay in subscription fees each month is well worth the time I save not watching commercials, let alone the annoyance.
Tried it in Canada. Selection was quite small, and the service was very unresponsive. Wasn't actually able to stream anything.
It just came out
.Like most tech items, I'm sure PLEX didn't wait until they had every last feature in it before releasing it.
Give them the feedback in their forums and give them a few updates.
Most of my TV time is watching Pluto.
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For some reason I don't see the new content within the Safari PLEX interface on my Mac PLEX server.
I have no issues with my Roku and I'm able to see the new content on the PLEX channel.
As others have said, the library is somewhat light right now.
I wouldn't worry too much since the content will only improve.
The different free ad supported streaming services seem to have a different selection of TV and movies available.
I would rank as best the Pluto channel followed by the Roku channel, Tubi channel, and then the new PLEX channel.
Besides live TV, here is the listing of Pluto's on-demand content.
I just noticed that the Roku channel has the original Batman series
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You can pay with different things. Sometimes you pay with money. Sometimes with attention, time, or opportunity. Make no mistake, these are all payments and they all have a cost to you.It seems like maybe you are confused
Personally I’d rather pay for no ads, so I subscribe to Hulu, Netflix and Disney. Also I get Hoopla and Kanopy from the library at no extra cost, they’re funded by my taxes through the public library. A ton of content and no ads.
I also have Amazon Prime Video and HBO at no additional cost since they’re built-in to the cost of services I already pay for (Amazon Prime and AT&T cellular).
Over the air TV isn’t free. Watching ads is a price. It’s like when you buy a car. If they want their name on your license plate frame than the dealership should be paying you for the privilege of having their business on your vehicle. Don’t just value money; value everything.
When you think something is no extra cost it’s a good exercise to ask why. People are learning to do this with Googles products, but they are slow to do the same when it comes to services like Disney Plus.
I hear what you’re saying and it is definitional as you mentioned in your first post. If you’re broke and have no money for entertainment, ad supported video is a viable alternative, whether that’s over the air broadcast TV or a streaming service like Tubi, Crackle, Pluto.tv, vudu, Roku’s ad-supported channel, this Plex streaming service etc. You don’t even have to watch the commercials, you can play on your iPhone, read, mute the audio etc. If you can’t pay, you can trade your time and attention, your privacy or anything else you have of value(!).
That’s the “catch” I mentioned. Yeah, no money changes hands—that’s the free part lol—but like you say you have to trade something of value. As everyone knows, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You might just end up washing dishes or otherwise “singing for your supper”.
PS Not sure what you mean about Disney+, you have to pay for it, there’s no free version afaik.
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I really don’t mind ads because I tend to watch shows in the lounge room and having pauses in content thrust upon me is actually a welcome break to comment on the show, or get up for whatever reason but when you’re trying to watch a movie (literally tried to watch Rain Man on Plex tonight) on your phone and every 13.5~ minutes it’s the same 3 ads, I had to tune out by the third break. It’s the same reason I purchased YouTube Premium. The monotony is such a pain and you end up losing focus on the content, especially since it’s not programmed like on free to air tv, rather just a set time interval and you find yourself just bracing for the next set of US Parks, LinkedIn Training and Norton subscription.
I hear what you’re saying and it is definitional as you mentioned in your first post. If you’re broke and have no money for entertainment, ad supported video is a viable alternative, whether that’s over the air broadcast TV or a streaming service like Tubi, Crackle, Pluto.tv, vudu, Roku’s ad-supported channel, this Plex streaming service etc. You don’t even have to watch the commercials, you can play on your iPhone, read, mute the audio etc. If you can’t pay, you can trade your time and attention, your privacy or anything else you have of value(!).
That’s the “catch” I mentioned. Yeah, no money changes hands—that’s the free part lol—but like you say you have to trade something of value. As everyone knows, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You might just end up washing dishes or otherwise “singing for your supper”.
PS Not sure what you mean about Disney+, you have to pay for it, there’s no free version afaik.
It sounds like you want free to apply to situations where money doesn’t change hands. My dilemma for agreeing with that is that most people already trade time and attention for money. It’s how people are paid. So to me they are the same thing. For me the only way something can be free is if it is exactly the same as the one you would spend money on but you didn’t. Inserting ads changes the currency spent but not cost. We don’t call something free because it costs Euros and not USD, so why would time an attention be treated any different to someone why gets paid per hour or per production?
Big cable compagnies are currently charging you money to be “brainwashed“ by ads
if there was a company out there who would offer you everything, i mean all the streaming content that is available right now plus the content of cable provider in one package for free, but ad supported. How many person do you think would sign up for that service?
can you imagine having access to the content from netflix, apple tv+, crave, cable content, you name it... for free?
I know, that company will have to pay huge amount of fees in order to make this work. Can you imagine how much money they would make with ads if 90% of the people switch to this streaming platform because it’s free?
and for people like you and I, they can offer an ad free version for a fee (let’s say 30$ per month)
so you end up with two options
1. Access everything that can be streamed in one place for free with ads
2. pay a subscription in order to remove the ads but still have access to everything that is being stramed online
i still don’t understand why video streaming can’t work like music streaming? With the possibility of having some exclusivity for a certain amount of time (let’s say a movie is available only on netflix for the first month... but then available on all the other streaming services)
It’s not a matter of having “every last feature,” it’s a matter of having the baseline features. I shouldn’t need to request them. Plex knows what makes their software great, and they chose to not implement those features with these new ad-supported films. These features already exist on regular Plex libraries.It just came out
Like most tech items, I'm sure PLEX didn't wait until they had every last feature in it before releasing it.
Give them the feedback in their forums and give them a few updates.
Like I said, ad supported is ad supported.
If you have no money to pay for ad-free streams, you have the option of over-the-air TV or watching an ad-supported stream, or listening to the radio—all free of charge.
Those are available, and are an option if you can’t or don’t want to pay for ad-free alternatives. If you want ad-free streams without paying the monthly fee I can’t really help you with that
btw watching ad-supported video streams can change the cost quite a bit. For instance, with Hulu you can save $6/month if you’re willing to put up with ads. But if you have to sit through 10 hours/month of commercials to save that $6, that’s a lot like getting paid 60¢ an hour. Like I said, everyone knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Like I said, ad supported is ad supported.
If you have no money to pay for ad-free streams, you have the option of over-the-air TV or watching an ad-supported stream, or listening to the radio—all free of charge.
Those are available, and are an option if you can’t or don’t want to pay for ad-free alternatives. If you want ad-free streams without paying the monthly fee I can’t really help you with that
btw watching ad-supported video streams can change the cost quite a bit. For instance, with Hulu you can save $6/month if you’re willing to put up with ads. But if you have to sit through 10 hours/month of commercials to save that $6, that’s a lot like getting paid 60¢ an hour. Like I said, everyone knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
I agree with you that alternatives are good. I am just pointing out that paying by watching ads means it isn't free. For something to be free it must not have any costs associated with it, and ads are a cost.
It seems like you’re really intent on re-defining the word “free”.
If you can’t afford ad-free streams feel free to watch TV for free with just an antenna. But no one is going to buy you a TV, an antenna and pay your electricity bill so there are no costs associated with it. No one is forcing you to watch the commercials anyway.
And if I tell you I’ll give you a couch for free, feel free to pick it up and leave without paying me, though a thank you would be a nice gesture. But don’t expect me to rent a truck and deliver it to you so there’s no costs associated with it.
People use the word “free” to mean “without charge”. Get over it, you’re not going to get the world to change how they use the word free just to suit your pet peeve.