Netflix – Is it killing traditional Television?
We all have at one point or another turned on the TV and clicked through channels trying to find something interesting to watch, however fewer of the young generation remember what it was like when we only had 30 some channels or even when you had to get your tv through an antenna which would oftentimes cause the channels to not be as clear as they could be.
When cable was introduced it caused a paradigm shift that most people ended up adopting to the point that you would be lucky if you found anyone who still used Antenna based television by itself usually this would be paired with Satellite TV or cable. Eventually, TV became flooded with channels and suddenly you had tons of content to watch, the only question was what did you want to watch.
As time went on Over the air tv became even less common and was really only ever seen in rural communities where cable was not yet available. However, with all those channels people can access now we began having a different problem, suddenly there was nothing on! This is of course a false statement but one which again most of us have said, we have become so used to instant content that it no longer matters that we have hundreds of channels instead of just 30 or less.
Now in 2018 we are facing the blunt of another paradigm shift one in which cable is becoming more scarce and instant content platforms such as Netflix are taking center stage. When you can get most of the popular tv series and movies by using a combination of services that compliment each other, like Netflix and Hulu for example, it causes that feeling that nothing is on even more when you do click through your cable channels.
This movement to instant content has been a long time coming and really has been gaining speed since high speed internet has become more affordable. As internet speeds continue to increase, content will become even more readily available and thus the cycle will continue. This shift to me is much faster than the one from Over the Air TV as there are way more avenues to explore then when cable was introduced and the fact that most houses can ironically use the same wiring they previously used to watch TV to get internet.
I am curious as to weather we will see the death of Traditional television in my lifetime, people are already joining the movement that has been coined Cable Cutting in an effort to reduce monthly bills is generally the instant content providers are free or cost a very reasonable monthly fee when compared to that of most cable companies.
Netflix being the king among content providers as of the time I am writing this article in March of 2018 , its a fair question to ask “Is Netflix killing traditional TV?” . In my opinion I think it is but its dying a slow death one in which we may not see the actualization of for several more years to come.
These are just my observations, I am curious what you guys think on this subject let me know.