Can you remember the last time you watched a show on regular television? It’s probably been a long time, hasn’t it? The younger people reading this might wonder why they should watch a show through cable if they can probably find it on Netflix and don’t need to wait one week for a new episode to air.  Well, streaming services are certainly more comfortable in comparison to TV. Nevertheless, for some people, TV still holds a place in their hearts. Watching movies and shows on TV was certainly a part of many childhoods, but kids nowadays have access to those same movies and TV series through platforms like Disney Plus.

In October 2010, over 105 million households in The United States paid for cable TV, which translates into an astonishing 90% of homes with a TV. It was during this time when this industry was at its peak, earning over $10 billion in ad commitments and having a daily average watch time of almost 3 hours per household. However, the exponential rise in popularity of online streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney Plus started to rapidly diminish interest in cable TV; they’ve certainly accelerated the trend towards cord-cutting. In 2019, about 21.9 million American households canceled their cable services, and this is expected to reach 34.9 million by 2023. Nielsen, a global data analytics company that provides a complete view of markets worldwide, couldn’t help notice the loss of subscribers. Upon review, the company found out that cable TV was losing 10% of its entire audience base every quarter of the year, which was pretty massive as it has continued to grow at that rate. Evidently, streaming services are starting to make TV obsolete due to their unique titles and innovative features.

Online streaming services are rapidly replacing the old and conventional methods of watching TV because they basically allow you to choose what you want to watch when you want to watch it. They offer their users on-demand shows and movies, while TV has specific content for specific audiences. Also, they allow subscribers to stream TV-series and movies on personal computers, or the respective software on a variety of supported platforms, including phones and tablets, video game consoles, and Smart TVs. When it comes to cost, streaming services are way cheaper than cable TV, which surely captivates customers. You can get dozens of movies and shows at a cheaper rate. According to a Netflix representative, in The United States, one in every three households has subscribed to Netflix which supports the fact that in the first quarter of 2015, content over Netflix was streamed for 10 billion hours. 

Recently, streaming services have shown to be more popular amongst the younger generations. 

This means that as time goes on, older generations who still prefer TV over streaming services will start to disappear. Network and cable TV companies are struggling to retain viewers in 2021 due to viewer fatigue and lack of quality shows. “I actually think that cable TV is starting to become obsolete and the recent rise of streaming companies like Netflix have been proven to be really popular and predominant in the entertainment industry. I definitely agree that TV has become more obsolete when compared to Netflix,” Nicolas Escobar, TCS student, said.

On the other hand, because of the coronavirus pandemic, people have been forced to stay at home, work remotely, and social distance. This has really benefited the entertainment industry, as there has been a significant increase in the number of subscribers to streaming services and decrease of subscribers for cable TV. For example, Netflix added 15.77 million subscribers in the first three months of 2020 and 10.09 million between April and June, giving the company its biggest growth spurt in history.

Is it possible for cable and network TV to make a comeback and rise above streaming services as of 2021? That question is strongly divided by the customer’s preference and opinion. There are still many people that watch TV and prefer it over streaming services; whether it’s for watching the news, sports, or just enjoying channel flipping. It’s crucial to mention cable and network TV still have relevant advantages over streaming platforms. TV’s fixed bandwidth prevents pixelation, buffering, lagging, or anything that affects your experience as a viewer. Additionally, TVs are great when it comes to viewing live content because no matter how many channels you switch through, your picture quality would never get affected. Streaming services’ success is due to how comfortable it is to watch the content and the number of titles they have available. Cable companies know this, and, as an effort to try and compete with these streaming giants like Netflix and Prime Video, companies like AT&T, HBO, Direct TV, and Comcast have started to release their own streaming platforms some of which include HBO Go, Hulu, AT&T TV, and Direct TV. Doing so allowed these companies to maintain their audience and try out new ways through which they could keep the value of their brands high in the eyes of their consumers. So as to whether cable companies can make a comeback in the entertainment industry, the answer is uncertain. Their streaming platforms have been proven to be really innovative and to have unique titles and have quickly gained popularity.

People are switching to online platforms at a quicker rate every time, and it seems like they are pretty satisfied with the choices they’re making. Regardless of the benefits that TV has over streaming services, I still believe the number of innovative features and endless content that is available online gives it an upper hand over cable and network TV.