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Rachel Polashenski

Professor Babcock

English 137 H

17 October 2023

Cable to Streaming: A Swift Shift

Imagine, you are staying in with your friends on a Friday night. You go back and forth

trying to decide what to do until you finally decide to watch a movie. After a heated debate, you

agree on a film and sit down together to watch. Only wait, it is the 1990s. Your perfect movie is

not on cable television tonight, and it is going to take at least another two hours to download. For

many people today, waiting hours for a movie that you want to watch sounds ridiculous, but

before streaming services, this was the reality. One of the fastest paradigm shifts in recent years

has been the switch from cable TV to streaming services. There are many factors that went into

this shift, which occurred over a period of around 30 years. Society was motivated to encourage

this transition for various reasons, all of which enforced the industry’s quick evolving pace. This

change was not all positive however. There are several problems that have derived from

streaming services. In the end though, this shift revolutionized the film and television industry

and forced a quick change for producers and major companies if they wanted to stay in business.

This shift is not over, and the trend is predicted to continue throughout the next few years.

Although it is fairly unlikely that cable TV will be completely ruled out any time soon, due to its

popularity with sports teams and news broadcasts, it will definitely be much less of a common

household amenity. The extent of the shift is yet to be revealed, but various experts have made

predictions. For better or for worse, streaming services have quickly surpassed cable TV in
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popularity thanks to Americans’ love of efficiency, rapid developments in technology, and

streaming companies' innovative attitudes.

Television in itself has been one of the most quickly evolving inventions in recent human

history. In the last century since its creation, TV and cable have rapidly changed and improved.

The switch from cable to streaming services, however, occurred in only the last thirty years.

Wowza reminisces on a time not too far in the past where online movies took multiple hours to

download. Thankfully, as society moved past the dial up internet from the 1990s, TV shows and

movies became more accessible. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, live streaming content

became the first important addition to jumpstart the revolutionary streaming shift. The year 2007,

however, was really the main year to remember. The first iPhone was released that year, and

Netflix, the household company and most well known streaming service today, was created. This

was the perfectly timed pairing to really begin streaming on the go. The Crimson White explains

that it took a few years for the company to get off the ground, but “When Netflix made it big in

the late 2010s, many families and households switched to streaming and canceled their monthly

cable subscriptions”. The 2010s already saw a huge growth in popularity for Netflix and many

other streaming services alike. Then the infamous year of 2020 hit. Almost every aspect of daily

life changed thanks to the pandemic, and TV preferences and practices were no exception to the

trend. Quarantine, isolation from usual social outlets, and the transition to working from home

were all factors in the final push to shift from cable to streaming. The Crimson White emphasizes

the fact that “Several studies have shown that many adults working from home watch TV on

their breaks or while they work.” With the pandemic, most daily freedoms and choices were

removed. Instead of being subjected to the cable companies' choices of what to watch, streaming

services were an outlet where people could control this one small part of their lives. The
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combination of these various factors ultimately “explains how COVID-19 pushed the streaming

industry into a golden age”. Finally there is modern day, a place where streaming services

dominate the TV and film industry. Stratista explains that as of 2022, people officially spend

more time viewing content on streaming services than they do watching preprogrammed options

on cable. This gap in percentage will only continue to grow within the future, but this change

signals the end of an era for cable TV’s dominance; the reign of streaming services has officially

begun.

Clearly this shift happened very rapidly, but what made this quick pace possible? There

are a lot of benefits that came along with the development of streaming services, but the reason

these benefits are so appealing can be boiled down to one main point. Americans love efficiency.

Americans will jump at the chance to make something easier, cheaper, and more accessible when

possible, even if the current process is already effective. Streaming services were able to gain

traction within society so quickly because of their unique ability to improve in all of those areas.

First of all, streaming services are significantly cheaper than the average cost of cable. CNET

explains that even if a person chooses to subscribe to the basic versions of four different major

streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and HBO Max), this would only cost around $33

per month. “Add in the average cost of internet service ($67), and you'd pay $100 per month.

That's $32 less than the average cost of basic TV and internet ($132 from the table above).”

Logically, why would someone choose to pay more for cable when they can get even more

options with the four subscriptions listed above. That is more content for less money; what could

be better? If someone wants to cut costs even more, they can simply share the password for the

accounts with a friend or family member. That way both people could access the content and pay

half the price that they would on their own. With cable, this kind of content sharing is not usually
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possible. Unless the parties in question live together, they are unable to both access the cable

content. This brings up another benefit of streaming; it is mobile. Like Wowza mentioned, the

iPhone and Netflix were developed in the same year. With the addition of streaming apps, or

even internet access, customers are able to watch their content on the go. With cable, there are

very limited ways that customers can access TV when they are not in their own homes. Finally,

streaming allows for freedom in choosing when and what you want to watch. Streaming allows

customers to choose from thousands of shows and films in their databases which are constantly

rotating. It is easy to pause a show and come back to it at whatever time they choose. People can

watch at their own leisure, which the strict programing schedules of cable do not allow.

Americans love efficiency, and the concept of freedom is the very basis of the American

Constitution, so it only makes sense that streaming would skyrocket in popularity as soon it was

introduced.

The success of streaming services does not fall completely to the audience, however.

There are specific aspects of streaming services themselves that contributed to their success.

Business Insider points out the practicality of streaming services. Streaming services are portable

and they take up much less space on devices than previously downloaded content does. It is also

much faster to access the content on these streaming platforms. It is a matter of seconds to log

into an account and click on the show or movie you want to watch, rather than the hours it used

to take to access content that was not already playing on a cable channel. Digital Market Institute

explains that streaming services are also constantly offering a variety of rotating content. People

never get bored of the platform because the combo of old favorites and new content allows

everyone to have a customized experience depending on their mood. The technology is also

specifically created to give a personalized experience to customers. Their algorithms are able to
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recommend content that viewers are likely to enjoy, appealing to them further. Streaming

services like netflix are also able to adapt to the current market quickly in order to keep their

platform relevant. The Crimson White states that there is a healthy competition between major

networks for subscribers. This eventually turned into a sort of race to release new content.

Overall, this competition benefits viewers because they are being provided with copious amounts

of content, no matter their choice of streaming platform. Insider Intelligence demonstrates the

results of this competition. They report that streaming content is more popular than any other

viewing platform across all generations. This further proves the success of cable to streaming

shift. It is not simply a phenomenon appearing in younger viewers, even older generations are

embracing the many benefits of streaming services.

Although there are a lot of benefits to the streaming shift, there are also some serious

consequences as well. Repercussions are seen in aspects of health, the film industry, as well as an

overall increase in steps for viewing content. One of the worst consequences to emerge from

streaming is the epidemic of binge-watching. Binge-watching is when a person sits

uninterruptedly viewing movies or TV for hours on end. The wide variety of choices on

streaming services, and the streaming platform feature of recommending similar content after

you finish viewing one film, does not help either. This was never an issue with cable since

viewers are limited to what is available on the preprogrammed schedule at any given time. Very

Well Health is adamant that binge watching has become a huge problem with the introduction of

streaming platforms. “Health experts warn that because people are replacing time once spent

exercising, socializing, and sleeping, they are increasing their risk for many serious health

conditions, including cardiovascular disease (heart disease), depression, sleep problems, and

behavioral addictions”. The rapid increase in success of streaming platforms also took a toll on
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the film industry. The New York Times said “The onslaught is upending how Hollywood does

business in almost every way”. Companies must change their capabilities in order to adapt to this

new competitive industry. They are often forced to create both film and TV content in order to

succeed, but for many film companies this is not an immediately feasible possibility. Also,

viewing content is becoming increasingly more complicated with the addition of new streaming

services. “Nearly 50 percent of consumers are frustrated by the growing number of subscription

services required to see the content they want to watch” explains The New York Times. Although

Americans' quick acceptance of streaming services and major companies' ability to adapt have

contributed to the success of the shift, it has also caused these unintended consequences. With

any serious change, there will always be some element of unknown and unpredictable results that

accompany the successes.

Although streaming content is officially more popular than cable TV as of 2022, the trend

is predicted to further favor streaming as time goes on. Stratista states the opinion of a fairly

credible source. “Netflix co-founder, chairman and co-CEO Reed Hastings said in the company's

latest earnings call. ‘Everyone is pouring in. It's definitely the end of linear TV over the next 5,

10 years.’” The management of major streaming companies are seeing first hand the success of

their platforms. As more and more households jump on the bandwagon, cable will slowly

decrease within these households. CNBC gathered predictions from various business experts. All

of them generally agree that streaming services will continue to grow and expand. Another

possible layer to the shift could be an upward trend in smaller companies merging. In order to

survive and compete with the already more popular platforms, smaller companies like Peacock

may merge with larger platforms such as HBO Max. These combinations will only serve to make

these platforms stronger and more expansive, appealing to even more viewers than each of the
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platforms individually. In the next decade, it will be interesting to see what other developments

these streaming platforms come up with to stay competitive and relevant. There is no doubt that

soon enough, cable will be an outdated concept that younger generations will not have even

heard of.

All in all, the paradigm shift from cable to streaming is clear and precise. The short

timeline of the shift does nothing to hinder its wild success. As technology in the television and

film industry continued to rapidly develop, a change like this one was almost inevitable.

American society tends to embrace concepts that make life easier, more affordable, or offer more

freedom and options within daily life. Streaming is a revolutionary concept that managed to

provide all of the above. Thanks to the quick adaptability of streaming innovators, these

companies were able to capitalize on the exact improvements that Americans were looking to

see. Whether or not cable TV will completely go extinct in the future still remains to be seen, but

one thing is for sure. There is no going back to a time before streaming, and there is no

foreseeable future where streaming services will decrease in popularity. Streaming services are a

reality of the modern day, so no matter a person’s age or background, it is important to be aware

of this shift and everything that comes along with it. Potential problems, such as the epidemic of

binge-watching or the complicated process of accessing various content, must be brought up and

acknowledged before they become even harder to deal with. In conclusion, the shift from cable

TV to streaming content was a wide encompassing change in society that continues to develop

and evolve today.

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Works Cited

Barhum, Lana. “What to Know about How Binge-Watching Affects Your Health.” Verywell

Health, 1 Sept. 2023, www.verywellhealth.com/binge-watching-and-health-5092726#:~:t

ext=The%20streaming%20era%20has%20changed. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Barnes, Brooks. “The Streaming Era Has Finally Arrived. Everything Is About to Change.” The

New York Times, 18 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/business/media/streaming

-hollywood-revolution.html. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Blomeley, Annabelle. “The Rise of Streaming Platforms: More Shows, More Money, More

Problems.” The Crimson White, 17 June 2021, thecrimsonwhite.com/81877/culture/the-ri

se-of-streaming-platforms-more-shows-more-money-more-problems/. Accessed 17 Oct.

2023.

Jackson, Kourtnee, and Ty Pendlebury. “Streaming Services vs. Cable Smackdown: Is One More

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2023.

Johnson, Dave. “The Beginner’s Guide to Streaming, Including How It Works, the Pros and

Cons, and More.” Business Insider, 11 Jan. 2021, www.businessinsider.com/guides/strea

ming/what-is-streaming. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Lebow, Sara. “US Adults across Age Groups Prefer Streaming Services to Cable TV.” Insider

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ups-prefer-streaming-services-cable-tv. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

O’Brien, Clodagh. “The Unstoppable Success of Netflix.” Digital Marketing Institute, 14 June

2023, https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-unstoppable-success-of-netflix#:~:te
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xt=What%20makes%20Netflix%20so%20successful,not%20resulting%20in%20more%2

0viewers'. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Richter, Felix. “Streaming Surpasses Cable Viewing for the First Time in the U.S.” Statista

Infographics, 19 Aug. 2022, www.statista.com/chart/25381/tv-consumption-in-the-us-by-

channel/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Rizzo, Lillian, and Alex Sherman. “What Will TV Look like in Three Years? These Industry

Insiders Share Their Predictions.” CNBC, 7 Feb. 2023, www.cnbc.com/2023/02/07/future

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