Hello, my name is Emerson Ward, and I am here with Olive, Aleishka, Jonah, and Khanye.

We
are students in the Research Writing and Communications class CM213 led by Professor Daniel
Piezkolon.
We are presenting our first episode of The Year of the Streaming Service Take Over. Today we
will discuss online streaming services and their lasting impact on the entertainment industry.
I’ll start and discuss how streaming functions followed by Jonah who will explain how the
services have become dominant in today’s world with the advent of COVID-19. Next Aleishka
will give insight about the downsides in these entertainment industry sectors, after which Khanye
will explain the price hikes and bundles provided by the services themselves. Later in this
episode, we will return to Jonah as he depicts some of the failures in streaming and the release of
poorly crafted service original content.
Streaming works like this– streamed media is broken down into smaller sections, lets call them
“data packets”, which are then put back together like a puzzle by the algorithm of the media
player. Then, it plays through the viewer's device like a chain reaction– one piece of the puzzle is
downloaded, plays, and then is promptly deleted to make way for the next piece of the puzzle. A
viewer doesn’t need to spend time downloading an entire song, episode, or movie because, well,
its never fully downloaded in the first place.
This causes an issue faced by YouTube in its earlier years– buffering. Buffering is when these
data packets are not fully loaded by the time they reach the quote-unquote “front of the line”.
There is a lot that goes into the more technologically-focused end of streaming– with things such
as the necessary capacity– or bandwidth– needed and the codecs (which compress and
decompress files to make room) that support that capacity. But that would be too much.
Now to get into how these companies function–
Streaming as a whole relies on its user interface and adaptability to the current social climate for
its survival. Hulu, as an example, is oftentimes described as a tech industry rather than a
streaming service, mainly due to the unique developments and breakthroughs it displays in its
algorithm. Additionally, many of its CEOs originate from the tech industry, as well as their
workforce consisting of engineers, and software developers.
As these developers and tech-focused workforce go into the algorithm, they change the overall
functionality of the server. They then change it to be more convenient for the consumer and find
that they are more likely to bring in customers and, at the very least, keep them consistently
engaged with content.
So what makes some companies more lucrative than others, if they are all essentially using the
same interface?
It all comes down to ownership.
What happens is that some companies claim to be separate from others, though they may own
these other streaming services. Let’s look at Disney and the wide spread of influence and
ownership that they have. Disney takes the profits from Hulu and ESPN and, as a result, they are
at a loss when it comes to what they can offer producers for their original content.
Netflix, however, has no larger company who has control over it. Because of this, the money that
they make can be fed directly back into their system, giving them a huge advantage when it
comes to what they can afford and what they can put into their original series, which is what
allows them to maintain a subscriber base through consistently and intermittently releasing new
episodes.
Additionally, Netflix can afford things which are considered luxuries for other platforms such as
Hulu– they have their own studio for production, and they can afford to pay better staff and more
well-known actors.
Producers and industries can make a notable amount of money through Netflix– with some of
them even making more than just the production fee. However, they completely forfeit their
ability to branch out into other companies because of this supposed “ownership” of their
intellectual property.
This convoluted chain of industries owning other industries makes the flow of money difficult to
track.
Given that some larger industries buy up smaller companies and take their profits, or even simply
move the profits from one company to another– something economists call vertical integration–
there is virtually no metaphorical “paper trail” for investors and economists to follow. And,
truthfully, streaming is just not profitable for companies.
Between investments in different producers, the cost for servers, promotion, production costs…
it should be virtually impossible for these companies to thrive in the way that they are. Many of
them are functioning without ad revenue as well– with the exception of YouTube and Amazon
Prime Video.

And this is what starts the cycle of ownership and debt– smaller companies without anything to
fall back on, such as Hulu, are unable to function and are brought by larger companies, such as
Disney, which has an incredibly large franchise and investor base, making them… barely able to
survive.

Financially, these companies take a huge hit from investing in streaming.

It’s undeniable these days that streaming is the go-to way to consume tv media.
The stats show it, all your friends will tell you about it, streaming is everywhere.
Even as we make this podcast dedicated to showing the downsides and losses of traditional
media forms that streaming has caused, we’ve still all got our hulu and netflix subscriptions
eating a hole in our bank accounts every month.
We all remember that historic moment that streaming officially killed Blockbuster, and now in
2024 we have made it through COVID-19, and seen streaming truly take over as the most
viewed form of TV media.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, a massive boost came to streaming services,
with subscriptions rising 26% from 2020-2021 at a staggering 1.1billion when the lockdown
began as per a report from the Motion Picture Association.
At this same time, almost all other forms of television had a drop in viewership, with the box
office naturally being hit the hardest.
During this time period, the global consumer spending on home entertainment also increased by
30%.
In July of 2022, new Nielsen data was released: streaming had officially surpassed both cable
and broadcast television in terms of viewership, accounting for 34.8% of viewership.
It is undeniable that COVID has had an enormous and lasting impact on how people all around
the world consume tv media, and the data continues to suggest that streaming services will
remain on top.
The accessibility, ease of use, and massive catalogs offered by these services are simply more
than other options like cable can offer.
Binge-watching also accounts for a massive amount of the minutes spent watching that went into
this Neilson report. Here’s a clip from Miro Copic of KBPS News talking a bit about this:
[AUDIO CLIP]
And then, there’s the matter of pricing. Streaming tends to beat out cable in this regard, but it is
beginning to shift. Nonetheless, at the moment it is still cheaper.
The average cost of an American’s cable bundle is around $217 per month according to Gitnux
Market Data, where a netflix subscription is only $15.50, and that's for an ad free experience.
Of course, the competition between streaming services often requires that people have multiple
subscriptions in order to watch all of the television shows they want to see, plus a good internet
connection is required, which is a downside of streaming services, but even still, they remain
more affordable.
Cable providers in general have been hit hard by inflation, as bills have risen 53% since 2010
according to Gitnux. Making up for revenue lost to streaming services also continues to drive up
the prices, thus having the adverse effect of making streaming even more popular. Streaming
services have similarly raised prices, but not to this degree.
It was clear to streaming companies that the pandemic lockdown was a massive opportunity for
growth, and it caused a massive competition that became known at as the “Streaming Wars.”
I won’t be getting into that during this podcast, but if you’re interested in what it was and who
won (spoiler, it was Netflix), I wrote an article that talks about this and gives more information
about Netflix’s success which is available on our website.
Netflix continues to be the most popular streaming service, with 260 million current subscribers
as shown by FlixPatrol, and you’ve undoubtedly heard the buzz around Netflix. Price hikes,
dumb subscription tiers, but also way too many good originals… they seemingly can’t be beat no
matter how much they annoy their subscribers.
And, they certainly do annoy people quite a lot. I was unable to find a single person saying
anything positive about them, so here’s popular tech youtuber Audioholics giving his opinion.
Yeah, they suck, but they let you binge all day and download your favorite shows to your phone
to watch offline. They’ve simply got too much going for them, even with all the hate they get.
Streaming services are just on top. They’ve surpassed the competition, and they’re here to stay,
but as nice as they can be for bringing your favorite shows, they have undeniably changed the
media landscape in many negative ways as well beyond just taking subscribers away from cable
providers.
With the rising popularity of streaming a question begins to hang in the air… is streaming killing
movie theaters?
It's easy to see why people may think this way as many theaters you may go to now seem to be
empty. On top of that most movies are now dual releases on streaming platforms. So it's no
wonder people may be asking this question. Personally I don’t think theaters are going to die out
but streaming will be taking the money that theaters make for what may be a long time to come.
The thing is I’m no expert so I spoke to someone who is far more knowledgeable and qualified
than I am, a professor named Michael Dwyer at Arcadia University. One of the questions I
asked him was whether he thought we could lose movie theaters or if they will be something set
to stay? One of the other questions was about the choice of where to watch a movie if it is a dual
release?
The *interview*
Many of the things that Professor Dwyer brought up in the short interview we had were very
insightful and helpful in getting an understanding outside of the ones in articles online and from
fellow students.
For those who would like to here Professor Dwyer’s full 5 minute interview please check out our
website
One of the many problems with streaming services is the prices. If you recall originally people
ended cable including myself because of the prices and how limited I was watching tv. But now
streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney plus and more are become the issue what cable
originally was. These streaming apps are charging unbearable prices and now adding adds to
keep up with other streaming services like Netflix. Netflix went from 11.99 a month to 15.49
that’s considered the lower price, Amazon went from 14.99 to 17.98 and Disney plus plan on
highering their prices as well. The biggest problem I don’t like is that they are canceling share
password, that’s not fair some people don’t have money to be paying for all these streaming apps
which is why some people share password. Now you have to be apart
Of the household to share the same profile or the otherwise user have to send you a QR code.
This why I’m about to use tubi, it has all my favorite shows on their and movies I can’t find on
other streaming apps which doesn’t make sense, they charge so much they should have
everything. I also don’t like how am one prime and Hulu makes you pay for extra for shows and
movies on top of paying your monthly subscription. It ridiculous and stupid. Streaming apps
need to go back how they use to and stop competing with other apps. One way to limit paying for
streaming apps at once is canceling subscriptions your not using. Focus on one show at a time,
ex. I’m watching pretty little liars on hbo max right now I don’t need Hulu,netflix and prime. I
can focus on one show and limit my how much I spend, we complain a lot how much we pay but
there are solutions. Another way I avoid paying so much money is by going on websites like
123movies and serious watch to enjoy my favorite tv shows and movies best part about it free.
Tubi Is another app that’s has all the good movies and shows and you don’t have to pay for
nothing. They all the bring movies, madeas movies and more. Peacock also also a good
selections and they only 7 dollars a month very affordable me and my mom uses peacock for the
show bel air. Another suggesting is going half on streaming services my friend and I go half on
Hulu which make it affordable for both of us.
Now that we’ve told you all about how streaming services have negatively impacted other media
industries like movie theaters and cable, let's talk about how streaming services are impacting
themselves.
You likely have heard your friends complain about new crappy Netflix originals with lifeless
writing and stale tropes.
These sorts of mass produced films and shows are a product of the continuous demand for
content services have to meet in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Netflix in particular makes enough money to continuously throw it at whatever project they can
think of, resulting in poorly received films and shows.
For example, Don DeLillo’s White Noise was recently adapted into a Netflix film, despite having
been famously called unfilmable.
And, after the reviews rolled in, it seems it should have stayed that way.
With a budget of around 140 million dollars, a star studded cast, and Noah Baumbeck directing
it, it had the means for success, and yet, a critical failure that left DeLillo’s biggest fans angry.
As prolific film critic Tom LeClair said in his review: “If you admire or love the novel, see the
film at your peril. I regret watching it, but at least I have the solace of warning you.”
This is just one of the many examples of a pump-and-dump film that big companies like Netflix
and Hulu consistently put out.
They have huge budgets, but no substance.
There’s no value in watching these films.
As DJ Khaled would say, Netflix is suffering from success, or more accurately, fans of certain
shows, books, and movies that end up as soulless celebrity showcases are suffering from the
success of streaming services with large budgets and money to throw away.
For a slightly different type of example, I have not heard about any worse movie recently than
Madam Web.
This was not a streaming service original, but rather a massive box office flop, but it undeniably
still comes as a result of the competition streaming services force onto studios.
The demand for constant content is resulting in these types of meandering, poorly written movies
to get greenlit and produced.
Realistically, this movie should have never made it to theaters in the state it’s in, and though it
turned a profit technically, it was extremely small for a movie of its scale, and only will result in
more films of this low caliber to be produced in the future, or at the very least pushes back the
movies we really want to see.
Quoting film critic Daniel Chin: Sony’s latest Spiderverse film makes so many choices that I
can’t begin to comprehend. Madame Web currently holds a 14 percent critics score (which is
somehow below the score that Morbius received) and a 55 percent audience score on Rotten
Tomatoes, as well as a C+ CinemaScore from audiences. And yet those low ratings don’t seem to
capture just how bad and how absurd this movie really is.
Streaming is perfect for those without patience, but eventually enough has to be enough.
We cannot always binge every new movie the second it comes out.
Not everything has to go directly to Paramount plus or whatever BS.
Fans are tired of the low quality films that have been the direct result of the streaming wars and
the massive competition these services have, but the business model won’t allow for anything
else.
[Roundtable Discussion]
Thank you for tuning into our first episode of the Year of the Streaming Apocalypse. We’ve
delved into the modern, evolving topic of streaming services and their impact on the
entertainment industry. Between their mechanics, convenience, costs, and content, services have
been very influential and become a staple in the current state of entertainment in the world. As
we’ve discussed, since COVID there has been a massive boost in users of these services coupled
with the closing of many in-person movie theaters and the like. From there, an exponential rise
of their dominance in entertainment is only going to continue through the streaming economy.
Meanwhile, the content put out by streaming services has raised many red flags among
consumers. So what will the coming years look like? We can’t exactly say for sure, but there are
a few likely scenarios that all have their respective pros and cons.
The largest outlets for the online streaming of TV and Movies fight to get the most viewers, the
bigger catalogs, and in the end: the larger sum of money. As the market continues to grow, those
at the top of the leaderboards are in near-constant competition with one another to grow their
monopolies. As time moves on and these services have developed their models, it has become
worth thinking about what the future holds for entertainment and streaming. It’s entirely
plausible that some of the largest corporations end up consuming one another to create even
bigger streaming giants in the industry. If that becomes the case, those in control will become
monumental in entertainment and will further dominate the market. In recent years, we’ve seen
the economy of streaming only expand and as told by the Grand Research Review (presented by
the Business of Apps), it is set to reach a total of over 100 billion USD this year. However, If the
competition comes to a standstill, then consumers will likely see more of the same with price
increases, brand original content, and similar decreases in movie theater attendance. However,
what is more, likely is that these outlets will get to a point of total control over existing TV and
Film and find themselves at odds to take over the market shares of the smaller services.