Although, if you're interested in one offering on a service, you really only need to be actively subscribed for 1-2 months a year (to watch the newest season)?
I think that's a major challenge here and it will ultimately drive up the costs for everyone.
Subscribe for 6 months = 50% annual discount
Subscribe for 4 months = 67% annual discount
Subscribe for 2 months = 83% annual discount
etc. And that looks great!
But producing the content costs the same regardless. So as more people do this, a vicious cycle will set in. Prices must increase to cover production costs with shorter subscription periods. Rising prices cause more people to shift to cycling through shorter subscriptions. Which further drives prices higher.
Basically you end up with the a la carte cable nightmare where you pay the same amount to for access to only one channel at a time. The only real way to stop this is to switch to longer term discounts and early termination fees or bundles.
Or maybe the market will naturally transition to an a la carte model, and we will maybe pay more for that one show we have to watch, but pay less overall, and have fewer recurring bills to clean up?
That would be great actually to move to a purely commoditized model where producers are paid directly. I think there's actually something extremely messed up about pricing. For example you can purchase the entire season of a show for less than a subscription and have permanent access to it.
