NOW ads - advice please

[nst]

Hi all

Unlike me to not be posting about AppleTV!

Just a quick question please.  I used to have Cinema pass, Entertainment pass, and Boost pass.  Due to NOW's inability to make 5.1 work on AppleTV, I cancelled both my Cinema pass and Boost pass... and havent gone back since.

However, I was recently recommending a show to a friend of mine who also has a NOW Entertainment pass.  Hes not used it in a while (though kept paying for it as most seem to!) but when I asked him how he got on with the show he angrily responded that it was full of Ads, and he couldn't stand to sit through them.  He also stated, quite rightly that NOW shouldn't be putting Ads in shows when we are paying for on demand - after all Netflix, Disney+ etc etc dont.

I was really shocked to hear him say about the ads.  Since cancelling my boost pass, any shows I watch on the Entertainment pass have a few ads at the beginning - maybe 3 or 4, then a promo for Sky content.. then the show starts but crucially thats it - no more ads.   I assumed that those 3-4 ads I now get are as a result of cancelling my Boost pass.

According to my friend... He is not only getting Ads at the beginning, but also throughout the show which is something ive never seen before.

So the question to you all is.... really?? is this happening everywhere?  Im not expecting my 'boost' to still somehow be active as I know it isnt... but why would I only be getting Ads before the show and not during... and he is getting Ads all the way through.

The only thing I can think of is maybe this is app and platform specific??  My experience with NOW is via the AppleTV app primarily, and also via the Firestick app - neither of which show ads all the way through for me.  My friend was using the Xbox app, and then tried the LG WebOS app - both of which played ads all the way through.

Whats everyone else's experience with Ads here?  Is my friends experience correct... is mine...?  He is so pee'd off with it hes cancelling his Entertainment pass.

Although I knew ads were part of the non-boost experience.. im genuinely astonished to see his experience and I have to say if i suddenly found myself having to sit through ads throughout the show then I too would be cancelling my one remaining pass and leaving NOW altogether (as I believe many have done).

Its astonishing... tying this in with another conversation in another thread.. how totally ridiculous NOW are being - they ARE peers with Disney+, Amazon Prime and Netflix - and NONE of those on demand services include ads - why are we paying twice.... surely with Ads it enables the prices to be lowered as Netflix will be doing with an upcoming ad supported tier.  You certainly dont keep it full price AND put ads on - especially not so intrusively as to break up the episode you are watching.

[nst]

It is but then it isnt.

Netflix always offered its current pricing with no adverts, and is introducing a CHEAPER option to enable customers to have a choice and pay LESS.

Sure, NOW does the same by having boost but the difference being instead of pay less than you were used to for a lesser service, NOW are asking us to pay more for the same, with no discount for lesser.

Personally, I find any on demand service peppered with non-skippable adverts to be a huge retrograde step and a massive turn-off.  My life before streaming was SkyQ and of course I always FFWD adverts in my recordings - its a way of life!  Then streaming came along, and I ditched SkyQ.  I was far happier with NOW as it was cheaper and no Ads... but that 'no ad' experience is in line with the other streamers i.e. Netflix and Amazon Prime and Disney+.

So sure, the world is changing - but personally I find unstoppable ads completely off-putting and much as its against my general ethos, I would just be pushed into "other means" of watching a show and cancel the subscription.

As a balancing point... I actually pay for All4+.  Ironically I dont mind the £30 a year for this as having ditched SkyQ - although I rarely watch any ITV content (who's ads are terribly obtrusive) I do watch a lot of C4's content and for the far nicer viewing experience I thought it was a price worth paying.  Bear in mind of course you cant compare this £30 to a years worth of boost being £60 as C4 is free to start with not £10 a month on top.

[redchiz1]

Yeah, but as has been said many times before, NOW are the only providers who are prepared to be flexible on price. I am currently paying £2 a month for Boost. And I doubt I will be paying it for a full year. 

[nst]

This is true.  

Actually, when I first took out the passes and gave up SkyQ, it was a Black Friday deal where I got 1 years of Movies and Entertainment for £99 (before boost was a thing) and this was of course a bargain.  That offer was never repeated... and I coasted along on those "im going to cancel" threats for a while.. and each time I clicked through to cancel id get another few months at a discounted rate.

Sadly, this eventually dried up and those discounted rates were not offered - this is the point where I had to take a stand and not pay £5 a month for boost and also lose the Movies pass too.

Looking again today, I have been offered 3 months of boost for £2 and 3 months of Cinema for £4.99.  So, the offers are back but as im so used to a non-boost and non-movies existence now I doubt ill take them up at the moment.

So the offers are indeed plenty.. but not all the time.  

[redchiz1]

You should get on to chat with a friendly agent some time, it's surprising what they can do.  😉