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Michael Bosworth

Mrs. Cramer

Comp I Pd. 1

1 Nov. 2017

In our technologically advanced world, thousands upon thousands of hours of content are

created every day. With new shows coming out regularly, many people are turning towards video

streaming services and away from the televisions to view as they please. As a whole, video

streaming services are gradually taking over the television with better viewing options, fewer

commercials and more partnerships, but the services still lack in some areas.

First off, there are various reasons why video streaming services are becoming the

preferred viewing method over the television. The main reason, is the large amount of viewing

options the video streaming services provide. To start off, video streaming services are much

more flexible for viewing hours than a television program (Weinman). For example, a television

program requires the viewer to be in front of a TV at the time the program is airing. While on a

video streaming service, the viewer can watch the show that they want when they want. That is

one of the major reasons that these services are attracting people away from their televisions.

Continuing, another smaller reason that streaming services are pulling people away from

cable is the option to watch the content at a higher speed. Some people feel that they have a

meager amount of time to watch an increasing amount of shows. Some find the answer in speed

viewing or listening (Mele). On some platforms, such as YouTube and Audible, the option to

speed up the playback draws some people in. As shown in an informal poll on Twitter, David

Chen found that out of 1,505 responses 21% of people did some form of speed viewing or
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listening (Mele). This on a larger scale could mean thousands of people being drawn away from

their television for a faster viewing experience.

Not to mention, another one of the biggest ways streaming services are attracting

television users is the appeal of no commercials, which is a conciliatory option for those

considering using the service. For example, during one year the average TV viewer would save

six and a half days' worth of time if they had viewed the same content on Netflix (Andrews).

Travis M. Andrews also showed the math with 75 million subscribers and 125 million hours

watched daily averages 1.66 hours. Continuing, Andrews found a Neilson report that stated the

average hour of TV has around fifteen and a half minutes (930 seconds) of commercials. Then,

multiplying the average time watched with the average commercial time ends up around 25

minutes every day worth of commercials. Finally, multiplied by a whole year lands around 157

hours, or just over six days of watching commercials, which is a staggering amount of time to be

watching commercials that could have been avoided on a video streaming service. Professionals

in the television production community also admit to seeing the effects of no advertising. One

professional is Howard Shimmel, chief research officer at Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting,

who stated, "Consumers are being trained there are places they can go to avoid ads" (Andrews).

With this statement, TV producers do know that commercials are adding to the increase in video

streaming service users.

Equally important, is the way that video streaming services are partnering with cable TV

providers. This seems strange because both are competing for the same customers in the end. Out

of these deals, the streaming services are getting the better deal, mainly because they will come

out on top in the end. For example, Netflix and Comcast are partnering. In this partnership

Xfinity will begin receiving Netflix on the X1 cable TV boxes (Snider). Thinking about this, the
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only benefit Comcast receives is the potential to keep customers who would have ended up using

Netflix, while Netflix gains thousands of new subscribers from the integration. Netflix has even

more partners than Comcast. Most are smaller U.S. pay-tv providers (Snider). However, Netflix

has also announced a major integration deal with Liberty Global, which has more than 29 million

customers in 30-plus countries. This means another major boost in households with Netflix

(Snider). With all the deals that Netflix is making just on its own, it's no wonder why video

streaming services are taking over the pay-tv world. If all video streaming services made deals

the way Netflix does, there would be no need for a television provider.

Even though video streaming services have many benefits, they also have a few

downsides and areas that could be improved upon. One of the downsides is that many streaming

services lacks new or original content. Services such as Netflix do not have original content that

can compete with cable giants (Weinman). Reed Hastings, Netflix founder, sent a letter out, full

of barely concealed pitches to TV studios. On this subject Weinman said, "For a new-media

giant, Hastings still depends on the whims of old-media studios." Weinman's statement is true

because earlier in the same article Hastings declares that Netflix is about to defeat cable TV. This

directly counters what he later says in his letter making Netflix seem like the weaker platform in

comparison.

Finally, with the revival of many fan favorite shows on cable, Netflix is also trying to

take on a return of Gilmore Girls (Driscoll). In doing this, Netflix is taking from the success that

the cable world had upon making their sequels. This again is showing how Netflix and many

other streaming services have a lack of original content. Even after they received a positive

review on rereleasing Gilmore Girls Netflix did not mention any more episode air dates.
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As a whole, video streaming services are gradually taking over the television with better

viewing options, fewer commercials and more partnerships, but the services still lack in some

areas. With many new people changing to video streaming services every day, but at a

decreasing rate it will be impossible to tell if cable will ever be defeated. However, any way this

is looked at, both services still have positives and negatives attached to them. It is up to the

viewer to decide which platform best fits their interests in this busy world.
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Works Cited

Andrews, Travis M. "Six days worth of commercials: That's how much watching Netflix instead
of cable saves the average TV viewer annually." Washington Post, 11 May 2016.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
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Nov. 2017.
Driscoll, Molly. "Loyal fans spur comebacks of favorite TV shows." Christian Science Monitor,
23 Feb. 2016. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A444071127/OVIC?u=pl1949&xid=91168b14. Accessed 2
Nov. 2017.
Mele, Christopher. "Too Many Shows? Just Speed Them Up." New York Times, 13 Dec. 2016, p.
B7(L). Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A473677352/OVIC?u=pl1949&xid=3493c50c. Accessed 2
Nov. 2017.
Snider, Mike. "Watch Netflix over cable? Yes, it's for real." USA Today, 4 Nov. 2016, p. 02B.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A468889742/OVIC?u=pl1949&xid=41897079. Accessed 2
Nov. 2017.
Weinman, Jaime J. "Killing cable: with higher revenues and more viewers, Netflix believes its
defeat of cable TV is finally at hand." Maclean's, 13 May 2013, p. 42. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A329730851/OVIC?u=pl1949&xid=f109205b. Accessed 2
Nov. 2017.