The creation of a “cord-nevers” generation
With the upcoming release of Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, the “Streaming Wars” are officially underway. Netflix and Disney have been going at it for the past few months. Disney blocked all Netflix ads on their various platforms including ABC, Freeform and Fox, while Netflix has announced the removal of most of their Disney movies and TV shows by the end of 2021.
Now, with the looming presence of other upcoming streaming services all trying to dethrone Netflix, things are getting a little more heated.
In addition to the battle for subscriptions, the streaming wars include the fight for the rights to your favorite TV shows.
The big names in streaming have dished out over $2 billion over the past few months in an effort to win over as many customers as they can while more options to choose from start to come into play.
With the news that fan favorites like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation” are leaving Netflix for NBC Universal’s platform, Peacock, it is evident that the days of having a one-stop shop for all your favorite shows are over.
However, one service seeming to be a pioneer in this field is Hulu’s Live TV subscription option. For $45 a month, this package includes the popular channels you would typically get in a cable package. Plus, if you haven’t already heard, they offer live sports.
At less than half the cost of a typical cable bill, including the fee for the streaming service itself, there is no need to drain your wallet with a full cable package anymore.
[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#cecece” txt_color=”#000000″]“That may not be the worst thing that could happen in this new era of entertainment. Streaming has many benefits compared to just having cable.”[/mks_pullquote]
In fact, the trend of canceling cable subscriptions has grown so much since 2014 that there is even a name they go by now, “cord cutters.”
According to EMarketer.com, in 2018 there were 33 million cord cutters in the U.S., and that number is expected to grow exponentially hitting over 55 million by the year 2022.
This rapid growth of the trend has bred a new term, “cord-nevers,” someone who has never owned a cable subscription.
Because of the increasing amount of new options when it comes to entertainment consumption, people growing up today may never know what it’s like to flip through channels looking for something to watch.
That may not be the worst thing that could happen in this new era of entertainment.
Streaming has many benefits compared to just having cable. Even if you were to have a subscription to every one of the current and upcoming streaming platforms, it would only total about $70 a month which is still less than the average cable package.
Additionally, with some of these new streaming services offering plans with live TV channels, you now have the ability to customize your package so you are only paying for the channels you actually watch.
As the streaming wars continue between both new and old streaming platforms, and the battle for popular entertainment gets more intense, cable packages are quickly becoming obsolete.
The days of browsing the channels in hopes of finding something good on are over.
Now, we can binge our favorite shows with peace of mind knowing that our wallet is no longer being drained on channels we don’t even want to watch.