The Instant Streaming Phenom


Netflix: The Newest Television Tyrant
 "What I need will take some time to accomplish. But the first step is getting out my message." - Brother Justin, Carnivale, S01E12



An interesting occurrence is taking place in television. Ever since the debut of House of Cards three years ago, it has been developing more and more. Though it started out with Netflix, it has spread, like wildfire, all across television. This occurrence is known as instant streaming - and it could very well be the death of cable television as it is today.

When Netflix used their advanced viewership-counting technology to engineer House of Cards, people were pretty excited for the premiere, but nobody really knew what it was introducing. To craft the political drama, Netflix took a look at what people watched on their instant streaming services. They saw that political scheming was popular, Kevin Spacey was popular, and David Fincher was popular. They saw that people liked edgy shows where nudity as allowed and the f-bomb could be dropped. With all of this information under their claw, the genius service designed exactly what the people wanted: a political drama directed by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey. In this show, people could say "fuck" and be naked all they wanted. Unsurprisingly, it was a hit.

In the same year as Cards, Netflix also announced they would be reviving the greatest comedy of all time: Arrested Development, bringing a fourth season to Netflix. This too was huge. Die-hard fans of the show (such as myself) decided that Netflix was a must-have subscription. Furthermore, with the development of even more dramas and comedies that began to pop-up on Netflix, general fans of good TV decided it was a must-have subscription. They revived The Killing, they hit it big with such shows as Orange is the New Black and BoJack Horseman, and currently have a plethora of new programs in the works from names as big as Tina Fey.

However, Netflix's genius strategy of full-season long debuts and giving the people what they want is not unique anymore. Hulu, Amazon, Yahoo, and several others have begun to create serious competition. Amazon in particular has hit it big this year, releasing the critically acclaimed Transparent and gearing up to put out the intriguing Bosch pretty soon. Also, it was recently announced that Amazon Prime has signed deals with the immortal Woody Allen, signing him on to create a new half hour show that will be Amazon exclusive. At the same time, Yahoo has announced that they are going to be releasing a final season for the cancelled Community, following in the footsteps of Netflix as well.

All of this is quite exciting. No longer do we have to look to only HBO, AMC, Showtime, and FX for our good television. No longer will we have to wait a week in between every new episode. Now, there's an excess of good TV pouring in from all over the internet. While this is fantastic for viewers, it must be quite terrifying to the cable channels. Why would a fan of good television subscribe to an expensive, expansive cable package if all they want to watch is four or five channels? Why wouldn't they just subscribe to Netflix and maybe Amazon Prime? Moreover, why wouldn't they just subscribe to Netflix and illegally download everything else they want?

This opens the door for an opportunity: the new step in the progress of television. Let's give a hypothetical situation in which HBO breaks off from cable and becomes a subscription like Netflix. For, let's say, five dollars a month, you get the entire catalog of HBO shows whenever you feel like watching. If you ask me, that's a deal. Watching shows the legal way is easier than torrenting, and supporting the programming you like is also a bonus. This system isn't just created by me either. Already, plenty of channels and companies are planning their breakaways from cable.

Though not the output of "good quality" television that HBO is, the WWE has a faithful following. Last year, they decided to step out of the shadow of cable and create their very own WWE Network. For a payment of $10 a month, subscribers get every "pay-per-view," every WWE Network exclusive show, and the entire library of past WWE events at their fingertips. One can easily watch a pay-per-view from 1999 whenever they want as well as see all of the new programming airing. Though it's been taking time to become super successful, the network is a fantastic idea. For a loyal fan of wrestling, the network seems like an essential subscription.

Think about how successful this system would be should HBO, AMC, FX, Starz, Showtime, or Cinemax decide to break off. I know for myself that I'd subscribe immediately. And moreover, it seems to be the only way out of becoming unimportant. Isn't it a better idea to do this kind of breakoff than to become obsolete to the likes of Netflix and Amazon?

The Golden Age of Television is still in its prime and with luck, will continue to be that way for a long time. The more outputs of good TV there are, the better. And, with more single-subscription types of channels, it seems that viewership will only grow and loyalty will only become more widespread. We live in exciting times, my friends. Let's just hope that everyone on TV takes advantage of it.

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