Streaming Services Are Losing Their Value

Decisions of streaming organizations have shifted student preferences

JOSH MORWAY

In recent years, streaming services have taken the world by storm. Few days pass without the mention of shows from services such as Hulu, Netflix, or Disney Plus. Although, there seems to be a shift in preference for entertainment, as not only have these services been altering their content, but as well as their prices.

Streaming services have acted as an exceptionally large part of a majority of people’s lives, those people having been exposed to these services since a young age. The accessibility of content has made streaming services noticeably prevalent, as senior Evan Lombardo would concur.

“Streaming services became my main method of watching shows ever since I was 9,” Lombardo said. “They allowed me to watch whatever I wanted at any time, unlike cable television.”

It appears that not only the accessibility of the content justifies the preference of a certain service, but also the variety of the content.

“I mainly used Netflix in the past, watching shows like ‘The Flash’ or ‘Arrow,’ but as my interests shifted to shows like ‘Attack on Titan’ or ‘Demon Slayer,’ I began to use Crunchyroll primarily,” Lombardo said.

Senior Jamie Kim has also shared the same appreciation for variety, being able to peer back to her childhood via streaming services.

“My current preferred service is probably Disney Plus,” Kim said. “A lot of my childhood involved watching old school Disney, and I haven’t been able to relive those moments until Disney Plus was released a few years ago.”

It seems that, through streaming services, anything is available for anyone, no matter their preference. Although, that said, availability often costs a price, a monthly payment. Of course, it would be unwise to stream this content for free, but a recent increase in prices for select streaming services have backed off those who were otherwise loyal to the service, myself included.

Netflix serves as an example, as the organization is expected to increase their prices for all plans by a couple more dollars per month. Senior Grace Liu is apprehensive of maintaining her subscription amidst the price increase, despite being subscribed for years.

“I haven’t switched from primarily using Netflix just yet, but with the loss of some really good shows and the addition of some pretty bad ones, I am considering ending my subscription and possibly switching to Hulu or HBO Max, especially if Netflix follows through with increasing the price,” Liu said.

Lombardo thinks otherwise, believing that the price increase is justified.

“I think that Netflix increasing their price is fair enough. They are constantly growing the library of shows and movies that they offer to clients, so it’s not a far stretch to say that the price should increase as well,” Lombardo said.

Josh’s Opinion on the streaming service debacle:

Personally, I feel the price increase is not worth it when considering the addition of mediocre shows such as “Hype House” in tandem with the omission of popular shows such as “Mad Men” or “The Office,” not to mention the future omission of the entire Marvel Defenders series.

I know many who are unhappy with the departure of these shows and who are expecting great shows in the future, so I find that using other streaming services such as HBO Max have been preferable to Netflix.

Even then, I find that streaming services even outside Netflix lose rights to amazing shows and eventually degrade in quality. As the quality degrades, the price increases.

Streaming services are not as great as they once were, as I pay more money only to become bored scrolling through the library without anything catching my eye.

Streaming services have nonetheless held a grip on the world for over a decade, and they will continue to do so, because no matter the price that is paid, these services have still managed to out-class cable television with ease. Although, I hope for these price increases to be justified with the addition of better content rather than a loss of customer interest.