If you follow some of the links to pirate sites in the article you'll get redirected to some anti-piracy site which amongst other things tells you this:

Bitch ... that's literally the reason I pirate.

[–] fluckx@lemmy.world 77 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Now only 1400$ a month to watch any show at 480p! Upgrade now to 2100$ per month for the high resolution videos? Can't afford it? Just get another job you lazy hobo!

[–] ugo@feddit.it 50 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Not so fast now! High resolution video only available on edge on windows

[–] fluckx@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

unintelligible screaming

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 14 points 10 months ago

Or, fill your phones, laptop and streaming devices with 1000 of our proprietary apps! Your personal information and viewing habits get sent 1000 ways from Sunday thanks to all the Privacy Policies you agreed to~

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Uh, ok

[–] blindsight@beehaw.org 30 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The problem isn't the number of providers, the problem is exclusive licensing deals.

If it was like music, then (theoretically), more choice is better. AFAIK all the platforms have pretty much all the music, so there is some choice available.

With TV and film, it's so fractured that it's literally easier to just pirate things, even for shows I (potentially) have ad-free paid access to already. With Stremio + Torrentio + a Debrid service, I just launch one app and everything's available in seconds. With paid services, I need to search Netflix, then Prime, then CBC Gem, by which point I'd already be watching.

Plus, torrentio lets me pick the video quality I want, so I can force 4K H265 on my big screen for films or just pop on a 720p H264 on my small underpowered laptop (that can't decode H265 fast enough for smooth playback).

It's not even about price, it's just a better experience to pirate. And that's a Big Problem for the industry.