There is a hard backstop here for the media industry: piracy. Media will always be available for free if you really want it, and there really isn't much that the music or film industry can do about that. If your paid version is worse than what is freely available, people will stop using your paid version. The market forces here are very much stacked against Hulu/Netflix getting too aggressive with advertising.

I dropped tv because of ads. Im about to drop Prime because of fucking ads before shows. Netflix would lose out too.

Hopefully the other three quarters just have very reliable ad blocking set up.

I think Netflix will have its Amazon moment[1] very soon. They will realize that their library is very unique (original shows) and use that to their advantage to force ads onto users.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17959085

It's not enough for the library to be unique, it also has to be good. I see very few people talk positively about Netflix Originals these days. Given how aggressive they are about pushing the Originals over all other content, I don't get the impression that there's a lot of organic loyalty to these series. That doesn't sound like a great base for getting people to both pay and watch ads.

I've seen a couple of "Here's what's coming in Netflix Originals" videos on YouTube in recent months, and while there are definitely Netflix shows I really like, the vast majority of them don't look in the least bit interesting.

I hardly watch movies on Netflix any more because there isn't much selection, and the Marvel movies will all disappear when Disney starts their own service that I will definitely not be buying. Their catalog of TV shows is what keeps me around, but that's shrinking as well.

Will unquestionably drop Netflix if they add ads. I already despise the ways they relentlessly pitch other shows. But if they interrupt my shows in any way, that's it, I'm gone. I will not tolerate ads on channels I pay for (and don't watch channels I don't).

I tried hulu back in the day when even their paid service had ads. Before this I was used to netflix.

Coming from netflix,the ads on hula completely ruin the streaming experience.

Worst part about hulu was the same commercial 3+ times in a row, every break same 1 or 2 commercials. Really makes you appreciate the variety of regular commercials.

And yet Hulu's commercials still aren't a third as bad as cable/satellite TV.

Having been off of satellite for almost 15 years now, I honestly wouldn't want it if it were free. The idea of having to watch something when its own, instead of on demand, and the obscene amount of advertising, which is always way louder than the shows (Hulu doesn't seem to do this.) is unacceptable.

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have plenty of faults, but they are streets ahead compared to that vast wasteland of cable and broadcast TV.

YouTube TV is barely tolerable because you can at least fast forward through commercials there. Honestly if I could stream my local broadcast channels during hurricane season I would wouldn't need even that.

Forced ads are a cancer and they will cause me to exit any media consumption channel I use regularly. I paid Amazon extra to keep ads off my Kindle but if they revisit the technique of inserting ads mid book ala pulp books in the 60s, my Kindle will be wiped and donated to charity the next day.