Study: Paramount+ Jams Most Commercials into TV Shows, Pluto TV Has Most Ads for Movies

As streaming costs continue to rise, you may be tempted to try ad-supported services to save a few bucks. But not all ad-supported tiers are created equal. According to a new study by Ampere, Paramount is the company jamming the most ads into their commercial-supported tiers.

Paramount+ serves up about 8 minutes of commercials for every hour of TV show time. Paramount’s free streamer, Pluto TV has the worst ad load for movies, with about 4 minutes of ads every hour.

Oddly enough, Paramount+ makes up for its TV show commercial binge by offering the lowest ad time of any ad-supported service during movies. Netflix has the shortest commercial breaks of any service when it comes to TV.

One of our favorite free streamers actually has an incredibly low ad load. Tubi has about 2 minutes of commercials for every hour of movie time. TV shows on Tubi only require you sit through about 3 minutes of ads per hour. That’s remarkable.

Bear in mind that when you watch a show on traditional TV, you typically face 16 minutes of ads every hour.

Ampere’s research found that in the US, the typical movie has 40% fewer minutes of ads per hour than the typical TV series across all major streaming platforms.

These numbers are worth considering when you decide whether or not to pay for an ad-free experience. Even though I pay for Hulu, its relentless commercials are so bad, I barely watch it. And according to Ampere’s data, the TV commercial experience on Disney+ is even worse.

The commercials on Prime Video and HBO Max are far lower than we would have guessed. Of course, the question is whether you mind being thrown out of the immersion of “Game of Thrones” or “The Sopranos” to hear about a laundry detergent or constipation medication.

With Paramount’s acquisition of HBO Max pending, this analysis should make you worried about how many ads will be coming your way on that platform soon.

As always, we want to remind you that free services like Kanopy and Hoopla have no commercials. As long as your public library supports them, they’re a a nearly unbeatable option.

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