by Graham Skinker ’21

In the past few years the number of streaming services available has grown exponentially. An aspect of entertainment that was once dominated primarily by three larger services is expanding and giving viewers a lot to choose from. This is not necessarily a good thing for viewers. People are going to have to pay for six or seven  different services just to watch what they want.

Just a few years ago the streaming service business was dominated almost solely by Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Now there are a countless number of new services. Some of the most popular include Disney Plus, HBO Max, PlayStation Vue and NBC Universal’s new service called Peacock, slated to hit the market in April. These new services vary a lot in price. Netflix and Amazon Prime sit at the top costing $13 a month while some of the others like Disney Plus and Hulu cost half that amount.

The main reason for the recent explosion of new streaming services is that the creators of the movies and shows that appear on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime feel that they could make more money if they start their own streaming services. For example NBC is unhappy that Netflix is making so much money off “The Office” and “Friends,” while they are only getting a small cut of the profits. NBC believes that they will make money by launching their own streaming service which will include both “The Office” and “Friends” among other shows produced by NBC. 

In order for this to end up being the right move for NBC, viewers have to be willing to pay for multiple services and that won’t be the case. A lot of people have paid for Netflix and Hulu for many years because they had all kinds of movies and shows from all kinds of different networks. Now with these shows and movies going to all different networks, viewers are being forced to pick and choose what services they are going to pay for. Companies are going to lose money in the long run because viewers are not going to want to pay for six or seven different services just to watch the movies and shows they want. More importantly, they shouldn’t have to do this. 

 In order for these different companies to make the most profit they need to leave the shows on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime but create a better, more fair deal for both sides to be happy. Netflix should not get all or even most of the money they make from “The Office” and “Friends.” NBC created the show and deserve a fair cut of the money that Netflix makes off their shows. If there are only two or three larger services that include all kinds of shows and movies from all kinds of different networks and the companies that have better deals with the streaming services the viewers, streaming services and the networks that created the shows/movies would all benefit. The viewers would be happy because they would only have to pay for two or three services instead of six or seven. The streaming services would be happy because they would get to keep the popular shows that they are losing with the explosion of new services and the Networks that created the shows would also be happy because they would get a larger profit from the shows/movies that they created. Everyone wins!