I tested the ad load on 7 streaming services including Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max — here’s the worst offender

Over the past couple of years, between price hikes and shifting priorities, even the best streaming services have become more akin to cable TV with prices to match, especially at the higher "ad-free" tiers.

Almost every streaming service, save Apple TV, has multiple subscription tiers, including one with advertisements. These ad-supported memberships tend to be less expensive than the higher tiers and in some cases offer fewer features, like a lack of live sports or no downloads.

With that in mind, how often are advertisements interrupting your movies or TV shows? We tested seven of the major platforms to find out.

Tom's Guide testing process

We tested seven streaming platforms with the same process for both movies and TV shows.

These are the streamers I looked at:

• Disney+
• HBO Max
• Hulu
• Netflix
• Paramount+
• Peacock
• Prime Video

We tried to test out shows and movies of similar lengths within five minutes on either side. For movies, we watched films that were 2 hours long. For shows, we tried to find two episodes of about 60 minutes each, within five minutes.

We charted how many advertising breaks were inserted into the media, including starting ads. We also tracked how much added time the advertisements added to the overall runtime of the shows and movies.

Movie advertising

Surprisingly, how platforms break up their movies varies wildly between the number of breaks and how much added time they have.

If you want to avoid advertisements, Paramount+ and Peacock may be the way to go with only one ad roll at the start of the movies and nothing while it plays.

Here's how it broke down:

Netflix had the most ad breaks with nine, but those breaks were typically only 30 to 45 seconds with one or two commercials.

HBO Max had five ad breaks, but like Netflix, they only totaled two minutes. There were a couple of times during "Howl's Moving Castle" when I looked away and almost missed a couple.

The longest ads came from Prime Video, which only had four ad breaks but each one typically lasted around a minute and a half. It added over eight minutes to the process.

Disney+ was close behind with five ad breaks that added seven minutes and 45 seconds to "Fantastic Four: First Steps."

We're not doing winners and losers with these tests, but Paramount+ and Peacock waste your time the least and actually let you watch the movie.

TV show advertising

Unlike movies, most streaming services insert the same number of ad breaks in shows — between four and five, including ads that run before the show starts. The big difference lies in the added time.

For this test, we picked a series and watched the first two episodes of the show as long as they were in the 55- to 60-minute range.

Here's how it shook out:

Of the streaming platforms, Disney+ comes out the worst again.

I will note that I was only able to sign up for Hulu and Disney+ as a bundle. The Disney platform is a mess, and Hulu stuff is jumbled in with Disney content, which can be quite annoying when you're trying to find just Disney titles or just Hulu titles. Even clicking the Disney+ tab still sees Hulu shows or movies shoved into the different panels.

I specifically watched the Disney+ original series "The Punisher" for this test, and found between the first two episodes an average of over eight minutes of added runtime. Paramount+ was second worst with exactly eight minutes of added time between the two episodes of "Halo" I watched.

During the Paramount test, I got an error code during the second episode of "Halo," and the ads all disappeared. I did check out "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" and "Dutton Ranch" just in case and got similar results, though those shows' episodes don't exactly hit 60 minutes.

Netflix may be the best value at only two minutes added time per episode. While watching the recently canceled "The Boroughs," there were only four ad breaks, but they varied in length. One was a minute, but the shortest was a quick 15 seconds.

How much the ad-supported subscriptions costs

If you're considering downgrading or signing up for one of the ad-supported tiers, they cost about the same across every platform, save the Disney+ and Hulu bundle, which combines both for $12.99 a month.

Here's what watching all those ads will cost you:

Some services like HBO Max and Peacock offer annual subscriptions, which will save you a dollar or so per month. Plus, Amazon Prime Video comes with a Prime subscription if you subscribe to that for $139 a year or $14.99 per month.

Otherwise, beyond HBO, most platforms cost $8.99 for the ad-supported subscription. Peacock is the cheapest at $7.99 by itself.

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