my hope is that we'll be able to view any shows we want, after watching a set of ads, something like coming attractions at the movies, and then get to see the show commercial free from then on. a balance of commercial viewing v shows. Afterall, either we pay with our time or our money. It will cost the same either way.
whether or not you paid will be irrelevant -- if if they add ads as well, they'll get paid by both you AND the advertisers. You can bet that they'll add as many ads as they can get away with... And unfortunately most people are willing to put up with quite a bit. It'll be tweaked to squeaze out the last possible penny of profit.
Even in the cinema you have 20+ minutes of ads before the movie now. (And they make it sound as a 'feature' -- and now, the "<cinema name> 20!"
also got to love those DVD's with un-forwardable/unskippable menu's... Especially disney childrens DVD's are pretty nasty in that respect. You'll get to 'enjoy' previews of all their other crap under the sun before the actual movie starts. Ever watched a movie with a 3-year-old? 9 out of ten times, he'll see a preview for another movie, and want to watch that one instead. Of course that DVD *also* has previews, which will advertise yet another movie he'll want to see instead.
Bleh.