We are no longer in a day and age where we need to wait for movies and television shows to be syndicated or have network premiers for us to watch them. Even as recent as a decade ago, we could only watch movies and television episodes if we bought them to view at home. Not that there was anything bad about this, but there was still a delay in wanting to watch entertainment and being able to watch the entertainment.
Websites like Hulu and Netflix were some of the first to start to remedy this by offering internet streaming of your shows, either by letting you watch an episode after it airs (Hulu) or allowing you to watch movies and old television seasons (Netflix). This allowed for viewers to watch entertainment immediately and conveniently, often cutting down on or eliminating advertisements. With this sudden growth of streaming services, it is important to chose the right one for you amongst the many available. Have a look at Netflix UK to see how the two leading uk streaming services compare.
While many people speculated that this was going to ruin cable providers or specific channels, i.e. HBO, Showtime, etc., streaming technology has caught up to give these venues better reach to their audience. Hulu couldn’t stream these channels, and you had to wait for the season to come out on DVD for Netflix to stream it, but now you have options like HBO Go on DirecTV if you get HBO through this provider to give you premium programming on demand. With the three service providers mentioned above, we have almost all of our entertainment options at our fingertips.
So while this technology has definitely changed how we watch television and movies, has this changed our perception of entertainment. When we ingest this level of programming, are we still as entertained as we are when we have to wait for programming to become available? By making these programs available in streaming form does, in fact, increase viewership and program loyalty because it allows for those new to certain shows to catch up at their own pace. Then they decide whether or not to keep watching the shows, and optimally the new viewers will start to become regulars that will start to tune in every week.
Streaming technology has been beneficial for viewers and producers of programming, regardless of the effect it might have on the broadcasters. Not only are we now able to take in our favorite shows and movies when we like, but we also can discover new programming that we have never been able to access. We have even seen an emergence in programming exclusively made for streaming such as Amazon programming series and other sites, we are also able to enjoy original programming made from artists and producers we aren’t familiar with. This benefits not only the viewers with fresh content, but it also benefits young indie filmmakers with a platform to get their work out.
Streaming technology has grown exponentially over the last few years, and it is here to stay. Viewers are going to benefit from having their favorite programs always available, and media producers are benefiting from having a platform that reaches millions of viewers. The way streaming has changed our viewing is for the better, and I think we should all be excited about what’s to come.
