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A major shift in the entertainment industry
By Mitchell Sterlitz
Since its origin in 1948, cable has been the premier source of entertainment for most Americans with a television. What could possibly be more popular than hours and hours of entertainment just a click of a button away, and with only a few advertisements here or there in the programming?
Well, there might actually be an answer to this question, in the form of Netflix and other streaming services.
Netflix was first founded in 1997 as a movie rental company, much like the now fossilized Blockbuster. In 2007, the company moved to streaming, which is what truly set them apart from all competition. Due to this shift, the entertainment industry was never the same.
No longer did people have to wait to watch their favorite program at a specific time in the day. Instead, they simply turn on whatever medium they used to stream and watch the show. The best part is, the norm shifted from people waiting on the show to the show waiting on the people.
Because the youth are the main marketing focus to companies, it’s most important to sample the target market and see what’s most popular.
In a 90-student survey by The Squall, 69 people chose Netflix, 9 people preferred cable, and 12 voted for both services.
Based on these results, it is not even a contest regarding which form of entertainment people prefer. Netflix is an easier, more convenient medium of television, and arguably has much higher quality content versus competitors. The era of cable being king of the hill is over, and Netflix took no prisoners on its way to the top.
