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3 Changes Paramount+ Needs to Make Right Now! | Paramount Plus Review
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Mar 20, 2021
UPDATE: Paramount Plus added a MY LIST feature in June 2021. Paramount Plus has some work to do. The streaming service replaced CBS All Access in March 2021, but it didn't live up to the hype on launch day. In this video, I share three improvements Paramount+ could make to the service right away. If you have something to add, leave a comment below! See my related video on the 5 Things to Know Before You Sign Up for Paramount Plus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIcXPuCqzHM CHAPTERS: 0:00 Introduction 0:38 First Impressions 1:14 Add a Watchlist 2:56 List When New Episodes Premiere 4:54 Reduce Length of Ad Breaks 6:51 Review Summary MORE CONTENT: Streaming TV Spending Tracker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPrz6WpXbsU Compare Live TV streaming services here: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/best-live-tv-streaming/ Best Credit Cards for Streaming TV: https://michaelsaves.com/credit-cards/best-credit-cards-streaming/
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0:00
paramount plus well it's got some work
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to do
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hey it is michael welcome to the channel
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and for the past few weeks i've been
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testing out paramount plus
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the new name for cbs all access the
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service brings together
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a cbs live stream including your local
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news
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plus on-demand shows from the viacom cbs
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networks that you see here
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cbs bet comedy central mtv nickelodeon
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and smithsonian channel
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also a growing collection of movies from
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paramount pictures and other studios
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too as well as paramount plus original
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series the service says
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it will release a few dozen originals in
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year one
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and i've gotta say so far paramount plus
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looks a lot like
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cbs all access and much of the content
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that
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viacom cbs executives promised during
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its launch event
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it is not available to stream as of this
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recording
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that's not to say new content hasn't
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been added there is new content
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but it does kind of feel like paramount
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plus wants you to pay them now
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for a service that may not live up to
1:00
its hype for maybe 3
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6 or 12 months and aside from the
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content there are three changes that
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paramount plus could make
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right now to improve the service that's
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what we're going to talk about today so
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like this video and let's get started
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number one add a watch list one of the
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biggest frustrations with
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cbs all access was that it did not have
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a watch list and paramount plus
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it didn't launch with one either to get
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by there is a keep watching section
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near the top of the home screen but in
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order for something to show up
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under keep watching you have to have
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started watching it i know that sounds
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obvious but it's
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really important so let me explain this
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a little bit better
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here is the movies tab paramount plus
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says it plans to have 2500 movies on the
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service
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there are a lot fewer than that right
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now but at least that is the plan
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you can scroll through the list from a
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to z or use filters like popular
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action comedy drama and you see the rest
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on the left of the screen
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but as of right now there is no way to
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save movies to watch later let's say
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you're planning ahead for
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friday movie night so that means that
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every time you want to watch a movie
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you have to come back to this long list
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to find what you're interested in
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and who knows that may be only 10
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percent of the films
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listed here i emailed viacom cbs about
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the watch list i've not heard back yet
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but for now
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here is my work around it may help you
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out too when there is a show or movie
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that i want to watch
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later i click on it and let it play for
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about 30 seconds
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then i just exit out and when i'm ready
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to watch it later
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i head to the home screen and i'll find
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it right there under
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keep watching a watchlist seems like a
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no-brainer for paramount plus because
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since viacom cbs has such a wide variety
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of content
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you have to do a lot of scrolling
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through the shows and movies that
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probably don't interest you
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to find stuff that you want to stream
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and having a watch list would really
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reduce that frustration and probably
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keep people on the service
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a whole lot longer next up to number two
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list when new episodes premiere pay
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streaming services like paramount plus
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will not be able to survive on just a
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library of
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reruns in my video on the five things to
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know before you sign up for paramount
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plus
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i said that original content is gonna
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make or break
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this service and i still believe that
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after testing it out
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for a few weeks time for another example
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one show that i have been streaming is
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the real world homecoming
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the first episode dropped on paramount
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plus launch day
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the second came a week later and the
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third a week after that
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you can see the premiere dates from the
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show's episode page
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but the about section of the show page
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has just one line about the real world
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and doesn't indicate when new
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episodes will be added i guess i was
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surprised and a little bit disappointed
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that paramount plus decided to drop just
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one episode at a time
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since that is the old broadcast tv model
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and after that first episode i found
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myself googling
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when will new episodes of the real world
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homecoming premiere
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i discovered news articles like this one
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from entertainment tonight
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it says the series will air future
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episodes on thursdays
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so to paramount plus my question is this
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why make your subscribers search all
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around for information that
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you can provide and information that
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will keep them watching
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your service longer just tell us when
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new episodes will premiere
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here's how discovery plus does it for
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its 90 day bears all original series you
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see it says
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new on sundays front and center and it
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does the same thing for other original
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series that release
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one episode a week now i prefer when
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streaming services release episodes in
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batches like three or six
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at a time but there is a reason why
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paramount plus is doing this and i
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suspect that it's because they don't
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want people to just binge a certain show
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and cancel and maybe if they had more
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content to offer up front they wouldn't
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be so concerned about that
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but at least tell us when those new
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episodes are going
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to be released and number three reduce
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the length of ad breaks
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paramount plus has two plans one with
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ads and one without
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i got the plan with ads and i was
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pleasantly surprised to find out that
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even on the ad supported plan some shows
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and movies
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do not have commercial breaks now that
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has been the exception from my 15 to 20
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hours of streaming
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most content has had some commercials
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and you may be wondering just how bad
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are those ads i jotted down the length
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of the ad breaks for a 40 minute episode
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of the real world homecoming
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it started with a 30 second pre-show ad
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and the first break about 13 minutes
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into the show
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was 90 seconds long next a 110 second ad
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break so
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about 2 minutes and this included a 20
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second promo
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for paramount plus which really seemed
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unnecessary since
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i'm already paying for it after that 60
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seconds of ads
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and the final ad break was 90 seconds
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and this came
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after the show was over but the way this
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episode left off
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it wasn't really clear that it was
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ending so this ad break felt
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a little sneaky to me so if you're good
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at math that is about six and a half
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minutes of ads for that 40 minute show
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and that is less than
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broadcast tv but that two-minute ad
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really seemed like it was pushing it
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after all this is a service that you're
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paying for so it should have
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fewer commercials than broadcast tv and
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even broadcast tv
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is running fewer ads a couple years ago
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nbc universal
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started to reduce the number of ads on
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its channels the broadcast network as
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well as its cable properties
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sometimes these ads are as short as 60
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or even 30 seconds
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this is something that i have noticed as
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a viewer of the nbc universal networks
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and i think it's going to become more
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common because people really don't like
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ads
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personally i don't mind a few ads if it
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means a lower price
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but the shorter the ad breaks the better
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and i'd rather
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not see the same two or three ads over
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and over again
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so here's my review it is really too
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early to say whether paramount plus will
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be worth it
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in the long run i have only streamed
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about 15 to 20 hours of content so far
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but my first impression is that the
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service left me wanting
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more if you were a cbs all access
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subscriber and enjoyed it
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you'll probably be satisfied with
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paramount plus right from the start
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but for everyone else it may be worth
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waiting a little bit longer for the new
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content
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that was hyped up during the launch
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event if you follow paramount plus on
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facebook and twitter
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you can get a heads up when new shows
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and movies are added to the service
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and you can also test out the service
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for free as a new subscriber
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as of this recording there is an
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extended one month free trial offer
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i believe the free trial period is
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typically one week
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if you have tried out paramount plus
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drop a comment below and let me know
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what you think of the service so far
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and thanks for watching today's video if
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you got something out of it please like
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it
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and check out my other videos too until
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next time
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you
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