Streaming Media the Future of Television?
Over the course of time, every industry has adapted to the change. With the advances in technology, many companies have had to manipulate their marketing strategy by offer services in order to gain revenue in different areas where consumers spend their revenue.
One of the first industries that has constantly had to adapt due to technology, and has been a precursor to other subsequent industries, is the music industry.
With the advances made in digital mediums -- from the 8 track, to the tape cassette, compact discs and currently audio files, the music industry is currently faced with trying to find ways to adapt to the existing technology.
One reason the music industry has been unable to be well adept to the current trends is that technological advances occur at a higher rate than the industries can adapt. This concern has been echoed for at least the past decade and, at the same time, the movie industry is experiencing a similar technological adaption with the success of streaming media.
Late last week, as I was sitting around the other evening watching Netflix, I realized that I had not subscribed to having either cable or dish services for the last eight years. I then thought of all of my friends, and found that a vast majority of them also do not have cable or dish services and have turned to services like Netflix for their television needs.
Take many students who are entering their college years, when I first went to college almost everyone I knew subscribed to either dish or cable services. Today, as I talk with various students who live off campus, rarely do they have cable, instead they have services such as Netflix to fill the void.
Netflix, since its inception in the earlier 2000's, has become a dominating force within the movie and television industry and has almost single-handedly aided in the demise of brick and mortar rental stores (spare for services like Redbox).
By the end of the fourth quarter in 2013, Netflix can now boast a subscription rate to their streaming services of having over 44 million viewers.
The question, which has been on many analysts minds, as well as consumers, is what the future of television?
One indication is displayed by the success of Netflix's critical and financial successful original series, House of Cards.
After the release of their original series, Netflix had 30 percent of all Internet "down-streaming traffic," making Netflix having more two times more down-streaming traffic than Youtube.
Before House of Cards and their other critically successful show, Orange is the New Black, Netflix was simply a hosting service that licensed movies and television shows from major networks and now, with the increasing revenue, Netflix has set a precedent in creating original series.
By offering original series, and creating shows that are exclusively accessed through their service, only exponentially increases the marketability for the company. And since Netflix has exclusive right to shows such as, Orange is the New Black, they can also control not only what services are allowed to stream it, but the physical sales of DVDs and Blue Rays.
Besides Netflix, Hulu Plus cannot be ignored for their share of subscribers, hosting over five million members. Amazon Prime is also another service that besides streaming media, also provides users with free shipping on all Prime-eligible products.
Recently, Yahoo is currently in talks with creating a similar streaming service and they are also following in Netflix's footsteps by picking up the cult TV series Community (arguably the best show on television in recent years and they will hopefully keep it long enough for the remaining six seasons and a movie) for their services.
The term "binge watching" has become a common term and is used to described the current habits of many streaming service consumers.
In the recent past, for many television shows, the standard practice was to premiere one show a week until the end of the season.
With the advent of streaming services, many consumers have developed binge watching, where (and I am guilty of this) the consumer is able to receive instant gratification by simply clicking "next episode."
As a viewer, I instantly begin doing calculations in my head when the button appears, "Well, I have be awake in 7 hours, I can still be rested and watch then one more episode...(three episodes later) Oh no! I only have four hours until I have be at work, but the episode stopped at a crucial part...I can watch first fifteen minutes and stop when the action slows down."
It is this type of behavior that has lead me to have limited sleep on some nights, but it is this attitude that has lead consumers to have the desire for this type of service.
In my opinion, there will come a time in the near future where services such as dish and cable, will become obsolete and fall to the way of 8-track, VHS, Beta-max, HD-DVD and laser disc, not only because of the advances in technology, but of the cost of services.
Though the cost of cable and dish varies, depending on bundling services and promotions, it does not compare for the eight dollars a month offered by most online streaming media companies.
There is one problem that the streaming industry will face, and that is sports.
Most people who I have talked about the reason they still have cable and dish services is directly contributed to sports.
Unlike normal network television shows, sporting events appear only a certain time, in a particular time slot, and cannot be filmed for future dates, but that has not stopped most sports organizations from offering streaming services. There are many services offered for devices that allow users to live stream games, but the cost is roughly at $25 a month.
The problem that many online streaming services will have is being able to reach a contract with organizations such as the MLB, NFL, and NBA without having to raise their rates.
Currently it is reported that Netflix is not currently looking into live streaming options, but, in my opinion, if a company like Netflix is able to capture the market of live sporting events, they will further cripple the already damaged services of both cable and dish.
Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.
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