The Pros and Cons of Streaming Services

              In the first blog post, I established the overall topic of streaming services as well as the goal of these blogs. In this post, I will be taking a look at the pros and cons of streaming services. This will ideally help us understand what makes certain platforms more popular, as well as lay some groundwork for what the future looks like. 

             Streaming services have a lot of benefits, and obviously that's ideal for becoming popular and sticking around. Eric Deggans and NPR.org put together a list of what goes into choosing a streaming service. There are a few points that I took away from this article. The first is that some services are cheaper than others. But on the flip side, if you want an ad-free experience, it can be up to three times the cost of an experience with ads. Different services have come together to create a bundle to give consumers more services for a cheaper cost. A popular bundle is the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ bundle. Another pro is that streaming services oftentimes offer free trials to try out the platform, which can help consumers determine if that's a service they want. Another article that did a good job of looking at the cost side of things was written by Kourtnee Jackson and Ty Pendlebury. They compared the cost of streaming services to the cost of cable tv. What they found is that it is cheaper to go with an internet plan and streaming services compared to having cable tv. They also found that 83% of households in the United States have at least one streaming service. I also wanted to mention some of my personal pros that I've seen with streaming services. You can pick and choose which streaming services you want and when you want them. But really, the big draw that I've seen is that you know what you are getting and the exclusives each service offers. You know how much it costs, and what shows are on there. For example, Star Wars fans make sure they get Disney+ because all of the Star Wars media is on there. However, that's not all. Streaming Services have launched shows and movies exclusively on their platforms. Disney+ has had Star Wars exclusives like Ahsoka, Andor, and season 7 of The Clone Wars.

             While streaming services have a lot of benefits, there are also some downsides. Scharon Harding wrote an article for ARS Technica that talked about how streaming subscription fees have been rising while the quality has been decreasing. Different streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ have raised their prices. Consumers have felt that the quality of the content available on those streaming services have decreased at the same time. For example, the shows on Disney+ are usually only 6 episodes long, which usually leads to improper development of characters and poor plot. Marc Berman also wrote an article that went even further in depth on some disadvantages of streaming services. The two main disadvantages that I think are important are you need a good internet connection as well as have limited options. The reason that a good internet connection can be a downside is because of the cost factor, you're already paying so much for the streaming services, and you have to pay more to ensure that you can actually use them. The cost of everything adds up. Limited options are the flip side of the benefits of exclusivity. Consumers have to buy multiple different streaming services to access all of the content that they want, which also adds to the cost of everything.  This often leads to illegal streaming of content or password sharing, which can pose security risks and streaming services don't want that because they're making less money. Another con that goes with that is that consumers don't own the media that are on the streaming service, unlike if they have a physical copy. Streaming services often rotate the shows and movies available to watch, so you don't have unlimited access to that content.

             While streaming services can become expensive, they're still usually cheaper than cable television and the consumer usually has control over how much they want to invest. They're able to pick and choose what services they want and go to the platforms with the content that they want. 

A popular bundle is the "Disney bundle"
Source: USAToday

References:

• Deggans, E. (2024). How to choose the streaming services that are right for you. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2024/01/31/1226117501/best-streaming-service-netflix-amazon-prime-hulu-disney-max
• Jackson, K., & Pendlebury, T. (2024). Streaming vs. Cable: Which One Saves You More Money?. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/streaming-services-vs cable-battle-budget-which-one-saves-you-more-money/  
• Harding, S. (2024). Streaming subscription fees have been rising while quality content is dropping. ARSTechnica. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/subscribers-are paying-more-for-streaming-content-that-they-are-enjoying-less/  

• Berman, M. (2023). The Disadvantages of Using Streaming Services. Programming Insider. https://programminginsider.com/the-disadvantages-of-using-streaming-services/#:~:text=The%20Disadvantages%20of%20Using%20Streaming%20Services%201%20Expensive,4%20Limited%20Options%20...%205%20Internet%20Requirements%20 

• Persaud, C., Durham, M., & Winkler, J. (2022). Tis the season for streaming with the Disney+ bundle giving access to three sites for 50% off. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/reviewed/2022/12/23/disney-bundle-deal-espn-hulu/10937586002/