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Rachel Polashenski - Paradigm Shift Essay Final Draft
Rachel Polashenski - Paradigm Shift Essay Final Draft
Rachel Polashenski
Professor Babcock
English 137 H
17 October 2023
Imagine, you are staying in with your friends on a Friday night. You go back and forth
trying to decide what to do until you finally decide to watch a movie. After a heated debate, you
agree on a film and sit down together to watch. Only wait, it is the 1990s. Your perfect movie is
not on cable television tonight, and it is going to take at least another two hours to download. For
many people today, waiting hours for a movie that you want to watch sounds ridiculous, but
before streaming services, this was the reality. One of the fastest paradigm shifts in recent years
has been the switch from cable TV to streaming services. There are many factors that went into
this shift, which occurred over a period of around 30 years. Society was motivated to encourage
this transition for various reasons, all of which enforced the industry’s quick evolving pace. This
change was not all positive however. There are several problems that have derived from
streaming services. In the end though, this shift revolutionized the film and television industry
and forced a quick change for producers and major companies if they wanted to stay in business.
This shift is not over, and the trend is predicted to continue throughout the next few years.
Although it is fairly unlikely that cable TV will be completely ruled out any time soon, due to its
popularity with sports teams and news broadcasts, it will definitely be much less of a common
household amenity. The extent of the shift is yet to be revealed, but various experts have made
predictions. For better or for worse, streaming services have quickly surpassed cable TV in
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Television in itself has been one of the most quickly evolving inventions in recent human
history. In the last century since its creation, TV and cable have rapidly changed and improved.
The switch from cable to streaming services, however, occurred in only the last thirty years.
Wowza reminisces on a time not too far in the past where online movies took multiple hours to
download. Thankfully, as society moved past the dial up internet from the 1990s, TV shows and
movies became more accessible. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, live streaming content
became the first important addition to jumpstart the revolutionary streaming shift. The year 2007,
however, was really the main year to remember. The first iPhone was released that year, and
Netflix, the household company and most well known streaming service today, was created. This
was the perfectly timed pairing to really begin streaming on the go. The Crimson White explains
that it took a few years for the company to get off the ground, but “When Netflix made it big in
the late 2010s, many families and households switched to streaming and canceled their monthly
cable subscriptions”. The 2010s already saw a huge growth in popularity for Netflix and many
other streaming services alike. Then the infamous year of 2020 hit. Almost every aspect of daily
life changed thanks to the pandemic, and TV preferences and practices were no exception to the
trend. Quarantine, isolation from usual social outlets, and the transition to working from home
were all factors in the final push to shift from cable to streaming. The Crimson White emphasizes
the fact that “Several studies have shown that many adults working from home watch TV on
their breaks or while they work.” With the pandemic, most daily freedoms and choices were
removed. Instead of being subjected to the cable companies' choices of what to watch, streaming
services were an outlet where people could control this one small part of their lives. The
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combination of these various factors ultimately “explains how COVID-19 pushed the streaming
industry into a golden age”. Finally there is modern day, a place where streaming services
dominate the TV and film industry. Stratista explains that as of 2022, people officially spend
more time viewing content on streaming services than they do watching preprogrammed options
on cable. This gap in percentage will only continue to grow within the future, but this change
signals the end of an era for cable TV’s dominance; the reign of streaming services has officially
begun.
Clearly this shift happened very rapidly, but what made this quick pace possible? There
are a lot of benefits that came along with the development of streaming services, but the reason
these benefits are so appealing can be boiled down to one main point. Americans love efficiency.
Americans will jump at the chance to make something easier, cheaper, and more accessible when
possible, even if the current process is already effective. Streaming services were able to gain
traction within society so quickly because of their unique ability to improve in all of those areas.
First of all, streaming services are significantly cheaper than the average cost of cable. CNET
explains that even if a person chooses to subscribe to the basic versions of four different major
streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and HBO Max), this would only cost around $33
per month. “Add in the average cost of internet service ($67), and you'd pay $100 per month.
That's $32 less than the average cost of basic TV and internet ($132 from the table above).”
Logically, why would someone choose to pay more for cable when they can get even more
options with the four subscriptions listed above. That is more content for less money; what could
be better? If someone wants to cut costs even more, they can simply share the password for the
accounts with a friend or family member. That way both people could access the content and pay
half the price that they would on their own. With cable, this kind of content sharing is not usually
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possible. Unless the parties in question live together, they are unable to both access the cable
content. This brings up another benefit of streaming; it is mobile. Like Wowza mentioned, the
iPhone and Netflix were developed in the same year. With the addition of streaming apps, or
even internet access, customers are able to watch their content on the go. With cable, there are
very limited ways that customers can access TV when they are not in their own homes. Finally,
streaming allows for freedom in choosing when and what you want to watch. Streaming allows
customers to choose from thousands of shows and films in their databases which are constantly
rotating. It is easy to pause a show and come back to it at whatever time they choose. People can
watch at their own leisure, which the strict programing schedules of cable do not allow.
Americans love efficiency, and the concept of freedom is the very basis of the American
Constitution, so it only makes sense that streaming would skyrocket in popularity as soon it was
introduced.
The success of streaming services does not fall completely to the audience, however.
There are specific aspects of streaming services themselves that contributed to their success.
Business Insider points out the practicality of streaming services. Streaming services are portable
and they take up much less space on devices than previously downloaded content does. It is also
much faster to access the content on these streaming platforms. It is a matter of seconds to log
into an account and click on the show or movie you want to watch, rather than the hours it used
to take to access content that was not already playing on a cable channel. Digital Market Institute
explains that streaming services are also constantly offering a variety of rotating content. People
never get bored of the platform because the combo of old favorites and new content allows
everyone to have a customized experience depending on their mood. The technology is also
specifically created to give a personalized experience to customers. Their algorithms are able to
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recommend content that viewers are likely to enjoy, appealing to them further. Streaming
services like netflix are also able to adapt to the current market quickly in order to keep their
platform relevant. The Crimson White states that there is a healthy competition between major
networks for subscribers. This eventually turned into a sort of race to release new content.
Overall, this competition benefits viewers because they are being provided with copious amounts
of content, no matter their choice of streaming platform. Insider Intelligence demonstrates the
results of this competition. They report that streaming content is more popular than any other
viewing platform across all generations. This further proves the success of cable to streaming
shift. It is not simply a phenomenon appearing in younger viewers, even older generations are
Although there are a lot of benefits to the streaming shift, there are also some serious
consequences as well. Repercussions are seen in aspects of health, the film industry, as well as an
overall increase in steps for viewing content. One of the worst consequences to emerge from
uninterruptedly viewing movies or TV for hours on end. The wide variety of choices on
streaming services, and the streaming platform feature of recommending similar content after
you finish viewing one film, does not help either. This was never an issue with cable since
viewers are limited to what is available on the preprogrammed schedule at any given time. Very
Well Health is adamant that binge watching has become a huge problem with the introduction of
streaming platforms. “Health experts warn that because people are replacing time once spent
exercising, socializing, and sleeping, they are increasing their risk for many serious health
conditions, including cardiovascular disease (heart disease), depression, sleep problems, and
behavioral addictions”. The rapid increase in success of streaming platforms also took a toll on
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the film industry. The New York Times said “The onslaught is upending how Hollywood does
business in almost every way”. Companies must change their capabilities in order to adapt to this
new competitive industry. They are often forced to create both film and TV content in order to
succeed, but for many film companies this is not an immediately feasible possibility. Also,
viewing content is becoming increasingly more complicated with the addition of new streaming
services. “Nearly 50 percent of consumers are frustrated by the growing number of subscription
services required to see the content they want to watch” explains The New York Times. Although
Americans' quick acceptance of streaming services and major companies' ability to adapt have
contributed to the success of the shift, it has also caused these unintended consequences. With
any serious change, there will always be some element of unknown and unpredictable results that
Although streaming content is officially more popular than cable TV as of 2022, the trend
is predicted to further favor streaming as time goes on. Stratista states the opinion of a fairly
credible source. “Netflix co-founder, chairman and co-CEO Reed Hastings said in the company's
latest earnings call. ‘Everyone is pouring in. It's definitely the end of linear TV over the next 5,
10 years.’” The management of major streaming companies are seeing first hand the success of
their platforms. As more and more households jump on the bandwagon, cable will slowly
decrease within these households. CNBC gathered predictions from various business experts. All
of them generally agree that streaming services will continue to grow and expand. Another
possible layer to the shift could be an upward trend in smaller companies merging. In order to
survive and compete with the already more popular platforms, smaller companies like Peacock
may merge with larger platforms such as HBO Max. These combinations will only serve to make
these platforms stronger and more expansive, appealing to even more viewers than each of the
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platforms individually. In the next decade, it will be interesting to see what other developments
these streaming platforms come up with to stay competitive and relevant. There is no doubt that
soon enough, cable will be an outdated concept that younger generations will not have even
heard of.
All in all, the paradigm shift from cable to streaming is clear and precise. The short
timeline of the shift does nothing to hinder its wild success. As technology in the television and
film industry continued to rapidly develop, a change like this one was almost inevitable.
American society tends to embrace concepts that make life easier, more affordable, or offer more
freedom and options within daily life. Streaming is a revolutionary concept that managed to
provide all of the above. Thanks to the quick adaptability of streaming innovators, these
companies were able to capitalize on the exact improvements that Americans were looking to
see. Whether or not cable TV will completely go extinct in the future still remains to be seen, but
one thing is for sure. There is no going back to a time before streaming, and there is no
foreseeable future where streaming services will decrease in popularity. Streaming services are a
reality of the modern day, so no matter a person’s age or background, it is important to be aware
of this shift and everything that comes along with it. Potential problems, such as the epidemic of
binge-watching or the complicated process of accessing various content, must be brought up and
acknowledged before they become even harder to deal with. In conclusion, the shift from cable
TV to streaming content was a wide encompassing change in society that continues to develop
Works Cited
Barhum, Lana. “What to Know about How Binge-Watching Affects Your Health.” Verywell
Barnes, Brooks. “The Streaming Era Has Finally Arrived. Everything Is About to Change.” The
Blomeley, Annabelle. “The Rise of Streaming Platforms: More Shows, More Money, More
2023.
Jackson, Kourtnee, and Ty Pendlebury. “Streaming Services vs. Cable Smackdown: Is One More
2023.
Johnson, Dave. “The Beginner’s Guide to Streaming, Including How It Works, the Pros and
Lebow, Sara. “US Adults across Age Groups Prefer Streaming Services to Cable TV.” Insider
O’Brien, Clodagh. “The Unstoppable Success of Netflix.” Digital Marketing Institute, 14 June
2023, https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-unstoppable-success-of-netflix#:~:te
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Richter, Felix. “Streaming Surpasses Cable Viewing for the First Time in the U.S.” Statista
Rizzo, Lillian, and Alex Sherman. “What Will TV Look like in Three Years? These Industry
-of-tv-predictions.html.
Ruether, Traci. “History of Streaming Media” Wowza Media Systems, 8 Apr. 2021, www.wowza.