We’ve likely all experienced the struggle: You think of a movie you’ve been wanting to watch for ages, and you know you saw it on Netflix last week. So, naturally, you open the app to search for it, only to find it’s vanished completely. But that’s totally fine, you’re subscribed to several other services, too, so hopefully you can just look up where else to watch it. Three options come up: two of them are rental-only, but just as your hope is fleeting, you see that it is available to stream on Hulu, and you have Hulu! And then, just as you prepare to begin the movie, you’re faced with a pop-up declaring you actually aren’t able to watch it because you don’t have the premium subscription, or you have too many devices streaming or one of the other several possible issues that could arise.
Streaming services have completely taken over all ways of consuming entertainment. TV shows, award ceremonies, sporting events; nearly every major event or source of entertainment is available on five separate streaming services, and it’s getting impossible to keep up with.
What once was limited to a one or two apps in addition to cable TV has now expanded to an unspeakable amount of streaming platforms, the majority of which gatekeep content behind different subscription tiers. Movies and shows cycle in and out at an insane pace, and nearly half of the content is “Netflix Original” or “Apple TV Original.”
I remember when watching a movie not on cable or one of the few streaming services meant getting a DVD from Netflix in the mail. While it may have not been the most efficient system, there was something special about ordering a specific movie you wanted that wasn’t available to stream and getting the chance to enjoy it without having to subscribe to yet another service. Now, even with multiple subscriptions, it’s rare to find what you want without shelling out more money. And the worst part? This isn’t even the only problem.
Plans are becoming more and more unusable with prices increasing frequently and new restrictions being implemented concerning the number of members in a household; even just trying to watch Netflix while I’m away from home is nearly impossible because it kicks me off of my family plan.
It just feels like an endless cycle, and as many as you may have felt, it’s simply never enough.
The reliance on streaming services for earning money is also significantly shortening the time that movies spend in theaters nowadays. Even major blockbuster movies that would have previously remained in theaters for months have shortened their stay majorly so the process of shifting to a streamable platform happens sooner.
Streaming services have the potential to be incredibly effective and attainable sources for media consumption at the touch of a click, but instead, with the unnecessary amount of platforms and plans and bundles, they have become so inaccessible and unusable that I truly just long for the times of waiting for your favorite movie to appear on the guide.
