I’ve been doing some totally unscientific research on streaming service ad loads lately, and honestly, the results are both fascinating and infuriating.

As someone who’s had to go ad-supported on pretty much every service to save money, I’ve become intimately familiar with just how wildly different the advertising experience can be from platform to platform. What started as casual observation during my recent Buffy rewatch has turned into a full-blown comparison project.

The Current Landscape

Here’s what I’ve observed so far in terms of ad frequency per hour:

Tubi: ~3 ad breaks under 1 minute each + 30-second pre-roll = roughly 3.5-4 minutes of ads per hour

Hulu: 2-minute ad blocks every 10 minutes = 12+ minutes of ads per hour (absolutely brutal)

Paramount+: Variable, but usually 4-6 breaks of 1-1.5 minutes each = 6-8 minutes per hour

Peacock: Similar to Paramount+, roughly 6-7 minutes per hour

Disney+: Under 6 minutes per hour for most content

The Frustration Factor

Look, I get it—ads pay for content. But there’s a massive difference between “annoying but tolerable” and “completely ruins the viewing experience.” Hulu‘s ad load has gotten so aggressive that I actively avoid watching library content there unless I absolutely have to. When you’re getting 2-minute blocks every 10 minutes, you spend more time thinking about the interruptions than the actual show.

It’s particularly galling when free services like Tubi offer a significantly better viewing experience than paid ad-supported tiers. How does that make sense?