How Streaming Services are changing the game

Written by Ryan Lukey

When you go to watch a new movie coming out, it may not always be easy. The top blockbusters like the Avengers movies and Star Wars will sell tickets fast, and opening nights are crowded, loud and full of people. Most of these fans aren’t very social people, and being able to watch these premieres from the comfort of your own home gets rid of dealing with crowds, and will help you avoid spoilers. The idea sounds great, especially in the middle of a world wide pandemic. But there’s something about the theater experience that is getting missed out on. Standard television sets go to 1080p now, while some have 4K, and even higher resolutions. Theaters don’t need 4k, with a giant screen, the whole room built with the sole purpose to have the perfect audio and visual structure for watching films. With that, theaters are made with IMAX screens now, and look amazing. Not only that, but as a kid nothing beat getting a giant bag of popcorn, too much soda and getting to watch a movie with friends, family, and significant others. The experience was how movies were originally meant to be shown. Over time, TV’s became commonplace in households across the globe. Now you carry a portable computer/home movie device in your pocket 24/7.

The continuing dilemma of multiple streaming platforms

Streaming movies at home is nice, who wouldn’t want to be lazy and sit back in the place you’re most comfortable at and re watching the classics? With services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, watching your favorite movies and shows was easier than ever. Then Disney Plus rolled out the red carpet. The other services were great, because you were never limited to a specific genre, or brand. Now that Disney owns their own service, with Disney exclusives, companies and studios have been removing their products from these larger services, and begun creating their own exclusive channels. NBC, HBO, Apple TV, CBS, The CW, PBS, CNN Go, DC Universe, even YouTube! Now with all of these, each costing anywhere from $6 to $50 a month, you easily lose out on money. If I wanted to watch one specific show, I would now have to pay how much more extra for one show. With services like Netflix, you only get half the series. When Futurama was on, it would only be season 7 and up. They only have Back to the Future 1 and 2, and the last 3 Harry Potter movies. You’re not even paying for all the content now, just fragments of it. The situation gets worse, when you’re done with just movies and television shows. Music apps, such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube Premium. It’s a new era, no more cassette tapes, CDs, Vinyls, and if you’re not getting services, you might be paying for individual songs on iTunes.

It’s already expensive enough to own a few of these, but compare these to regular payments, on top of the cost of online memberships. Things like phones, Xbox Gold, PlayStation Network, or other services that you might pay for. One I personally enjoy is Rooster Teeth for their series Red vs Blue and RWBY, but for $6 a month, on top of Prime, Netflix, and Disney Plus… I can’t seem to want to spend that money, if I’m not going to constantly use it. Streaming Services are great for making things more accessible but the cost of each individual one is too high. It’s amazing that some companies can seem to stay afloat, especially when we’ve seen how many have tried and failed. Take a show I love, Community. The series was purchased and renewed on Yahoo Screen. That’s right, Yahoo had a streaming service. The reason you probably haven’t heard about it is because after Community stopped airing, nobody would pay for Yahoo Screen, so they shut down shortly there after. Shaomi is another failed service, and the fact is that they weren’t able to keep it going. However some services like Crunchy Roll some how stay afloat despite making me lose the will to live every time I sit through 6 advertisements before the next episode even begins, and then 3 more after the intro, then 3 more before the recap… and on, and on.

This entry was posted in General.