Final Essay

The rise of streaming sites and internet television has been rapid and is undeniably changing the way people watch TV. A survey conducted by Clearleap, a subsidiary of IBM, in December 2015, found that streaming sites had almost caught up to traditional television. The survey found that 78% of respondents were subscribed to cable, and 71% were paying for at least one streaming account (Skelton). With the total numbers of subscribers getting very close, is one significantly better than the other? There are a lot of criteria to consider in making the choice between the two; cost, accessibility, and what shows are available are all factors that make up the decision. So who holds the edge in the television world? First and foremost, possibly the

Both cable and streaming services have been dominating the scene with Netflix, HBO, and Starz originals, all competing for Oscars (Driscoll). It is clear that both parties are creating high quality shows and movies, therefore the real question is: which can provide customers with more, better television? Netflix, one of the most popular streaming services, offered 4,335 movies and 1,197 shows in March 2016. Though that sounds like a lot, it is a major drop from the 6,494 movies and 1,609 shows it offered in January 2014 (Luckerson). The cheapest package Netflix currently offers costs $7.99 per month and allows one screen to be watching at a time (“Choose the plan”). In addition to Netflix, Hulu is a streaming service that offers streaming of most current television shows. Hulu offers a variety of On-Demand shows similarly to Netflix, but Hulu adds in many current shows the day after they air on television. The question that all TV

When trying to stream videos on a cable service, almost every recently released movie will cost extra. The companies claim to have a large amount of new movies available, but when someone wants to watch those movies they are all pay per view. With Netflix and Hulu, everything promised is included in the relatively low monthly cost. According to the Netflix website, their plans range from $7.99-$11.99 (“Choose The Plan”). Hulu has very similar costs, and with the combination of the two, the total cost would be at most 24 dollars a month. To some people, that may be a lot to spend on TV. To others, that is a bargain. Comcast customers pay an average of more than fifty dollars a month for cable TV (Luke). That cost is more than double the cost of just Hulu and Netflix. When people watch commercials for cable or DirecTV they seem to be really good deals; what people miss is the fine print that follows. With Xfinity, the price seems really low at first; however, all of their options require a two-year contract, and the prices nearly double after the first year. When comparing prices it seems that it would be an easy choice to go with would be cutting the cable and switching to streaming. Both have a lot of high quality options of shows and movies to watch, and streaming is often a significantly lower