CBS All Access is here and so is the commercial free version of the same service. How much does the commercial free CBS All Access cost? Is the ad-free version worth it?
I have been waiting for it for a long time, and today I saw the news. CBS All Access now has a commercial free plan available, meaning that you do not have to be interrupted by commercials.
If you have tried CBS All Access you have for sure noticed that you are bombarded by commercials all the time. A show lasting for 20 minutes will for sure be interrupted about 4 or 5 times and in total you will have watched commercials for 5-8 minutes before the show is finished. That feels like a waste of time, and that is why many of us have been waiting for the commercial free version of CBS All Access. Now it is here!
CBS All Access without commercials
I just visited CBS All Access to see how many episodes were available of Big Bang Theory on the platform. Unfortunately only the latest episodes are available, which means that you should rather use Netflix if you want to watch the earlier Big Bang Theory seasons online. But, as I surfed around on CBS All Access I suddenly noticed a banner that I have never seen before. It looked like this.
Now I quickly checked it out, but since I visited CBS All Access in Windows I was told that I have to use my Android phone to upgrade, since I created my subscription using my Android device. That is why I quickly picked up my phone to check it out. As I wanted to sign up I soon discovered that the price for the commercial free CBS All Access cost 9,99 USD a month, while the normal price is 5,99 USD a month.
It isn’t my job to say whether or not that is a good price, but comparing it to other streaming services like Hulu and Netflix makes me feel as if 10 USD a month is a very tough price. The commercial free version of Hulu is more expensive, but at the same time you get access to hundred times more content that with CBS All Access.
Is it worth using the commercial free version of CBS All Access?
To find out even more about the commercial free version of CBS All Access I decided to go into a testing phase. In this I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory with commercials and then without commercials. I also decided to watch a full episode of Scorpion with ads and then without ads.
TV show overview
- Big Bang Theory
- Duration with ads: 23.50 minutes
- Duration without Ads: 18.34 minutes
- Difference: 5 minutes and 16 seconds
- Scorpion
- Duration with ads:51.50 minutes (they had an add all in the end, skipping that ad: 50.15 minutes)
- Duration without ads: 42.58 minutes
- Difference: 8 minutes and 52 seconds
Based on these results you can ask yourself if it is worth buying CBS All Access without commercials or not. If you have your subscription to watch a new Big Bang Theory once a week you will based on the assumption that you watch three new episodes a month you will pay 4 USD (the difference between the two subscriptions) to save 15 minutes and 48 seconds per month.
If you watch a TV show like Scorpion once a week your commercial free subscription will save you a total of 24 minutes and 36 seconds month.
If you watch two shows a month, Big Bang Theory and Scorpion, and in average watch three episodes per month you will save 40 minutes and 24 seconds a month.
These are just some examples, as most people probably would use their CBS All Access subscription even more than this.
Are those saved minutes worth a CBS All Access commercial free subscription?
In a world where time is money and for me watching these TV shows is almost a part of my job. In other words, if I can save one hour by watching the commercial free version a month, I can use the same saved hour to work and generate an income of at least 4 USD.
In my world it is worth those extra four dollars a month to get the commercial free version of CBS All Access. And it is not so much about the fact that I hate commercials, it is more about the fact that I will save lots of time subscribing to the commercial free version.
What do you think? Is it worth it for you to get the commercial free version of CBS All Access? Do you find 10 USD a month to be expensive compared to what you get with your subscription?
