Why do I have to pay for Below Deck, Million Dollar Listing on demand as of this week?

LeeD11

A number of on demand episodes now only have the option to pay $1.99 to watch. I have seen a charge to watch only a day or 2 after the episode airs in the past and then can access the episode free of charge. It has been a week since these episodes aired and still cannot view without paying. What is going on? Are we now paying for some free perks we got during the pandemic surge?

CRobGauth

Most of these are forced by the content provider.

I have seen the same one demand offerings on other providers.

Some (like Comcast) either have more clout with more subscribers or may get more favorable content from sister companies.

I believe the content providers are really trying to force customers to get content either from their website/app directly or via their (or affiliated) streaming service.

Look at CBS. Very little content since they started their streaming service