Streaming Services Are Increasing Day By Day: What Is Happening In The Streaming World?
Over a decade ago, it was simple to decide if you want Netflix or Hulu. Now, it is much simpler to get Disney Plus Hotstar easily in UK (a geo-restricted platform) and watch it from anywhere in the world with the help of a VPN. But having too many options is not always convenient.
Today, with over hundreds of streaming services available in the world and more on the way, the audience has so many options to choose from. According to recent surveys, consumers are becoming frustrated with multiple subscriptions to access the content they want. After all, more accessibility always comes with its pros and cons.
In this article, we will look at the most common advantages and disadvantages faced by subscribers because of the range of streaming services around. But first, we need to understand what is happening in the streaming world and why having more and more streaming services is making some viewers want to get back to the old cable system.
WHAT IS HAPPENING WITHIN THE MEDIA STREAMING INDUSTRY
As the number of streaming sites increases, it is giving rise to fierce competition within the streaming industry.
Big networks figured it a decade ago that online content consumption will be the future. When compared to the local cable system, every consumer wanted the ease of watching whatever they want and wherever they want.
The dream has been fulfilled with the rise of online streaming services and we can binge-watch our favorite shows without worrying about its availability, something we’ve always wished for.
But having all these platforms has become tiring and confusing as viewers find it hard to decide which platform to choose and where to find the best content. It is making today’s consumers a lot overwhelmed.
According to a recent study by Interpret, 20% of viewers have felt like they have way more streaming service subscriptions than they actually need. Another study by Nielsen finds that viewers now feel a lot more overwhelmed with all the available content.
Some years ago streaming sites such as CBS, NBC, and Disney used to license their content to Netflix or Hulu as they were the only available options but now they have their own platforms where they are producing their original content by investing a huge sum of money.
What’s Good in Having Too Many Streaming Services
No doubt there’s a lot to be happy about when you have so many streaming services at your disposal. You can get many good options and a variety of content to binge-watch whenever you want. Indeed, streaming is a fabulous alternative to cable in today’s world.
As so many platforms are competing to get more and more users onboard and for the subscriptions and money, we can also hope to receive better services from them. As per one recent report, over $220 billion is invested by Disney+ for producing original content on their own platforms, though not all get hit or liked by the viewers but most of them are always worth watching.
What’s Not Really Good about Having Too Many Streaming Services Around.
As every good thing has its cons, this market is also saturated now. The owners of streaming sites demand high subscription rates without providing all the content under one roof and with the same quality.
The Deloitte survey noted that 47% of consumers are frustrated because they need to pay hefty amounts to different sites for getting the shows they want and also 57% of viewers stated that despite having many subscriptions, shows keep disappearing from the streaming platforms.
As more sites enter the market, they defeat the original appeals of streaming; the market becomes so saturated that sometimes consumers end up with hefty subscription charges gaining nothing in return.
For example: if a consumer subscribed to Netflix or Hulu with no ads and to Disney+ Hotstar and HBO Max, in addition to Wi-Fi charges, it will cost more than $90 every month while receiving only limited perks to enjoy.
Even after subscribing to all these sites, viewers remain frustrated because they have to surf site to site for the content they are willing to watch.
Currently, we are in a streaming war as all the major companies are fighting in this overly populated market, but in the end, viewers are at a loss. While a user looks for good quality content to take a break from their routine life, they must subscribe to different streaming services to get the quality content, which only adds to their stress and bills.
Conclusion
While it is appreciated to get access to many streaming options, the cut-throat competition and the ongoing war among big streaming services is making it hard for users to continue with one subscription for long and get their desired content.
We can only hope that these streaming services will be more inclined to produce and provide what users actually want, either by lowering their prices or by improving their content but for now, it seems like people will continue to pay their hard-earned money in the hope to receive the best streaming experience they truly deserve.
