From cable to Netflix: The rise of streaming in the 2010s

The past decade has brought about a lot of changes in the way people consume entertainment. The way that students spend their downtime has changed drastically with the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple Music and Spotify. 

Students used to have to tune in at specific times to specific channels to watch shows and games, or pay a dollar for each song they wanted to listen to on iTunes. Now, all of this entertainment is a small monthly payment away, often discounted for college students. What does this mean for the industry? What does this mean for students?

Nick Ciampa is a 2017 graduate from UNC who was in school when streaming services really started to come into prominence and overtake the entertainment industry. One particular streaming service changed his outlook and consumption of music dramatically.

“When I got Spotify Premium freshman year, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration that it changed the way I live,” Ciampa said. “When you instantly get access to a music library that big, that can really change your appreciation for something and how much time you spend on it, as well.”

Ciampa also noted that he and most of his friends used their parents’ accounts on streaming services to save money while they were students. He said that Netflix offered a great, low-cost way to spend time with friends and bond over TV shows and movies.

“When you have a few friends over, you put on whatever on Netflix and you don’t have to pay for it and nobody really has to chip in,” Ciampa said. “You can all spend some quality time together and not have to pay extra for entertainment.”

Bernard Bell is the executive director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship at UNC. Prior to being one of the showrunners for the entrepreneurship program, he worked for TV One and various other media companies. 

Bell has taken note of the way that television has changed dramatically this past decade and how that affected the way students consume entertainment. 

“In ECON 125 first semester, I asked the students how many of them had Comcast (or any other cable subscription)," Bell said. "This is a 420 person class. Not one hand went up. That’s when I realized the cable operators who are old corporate guys have no idea that millennials and Gen X-ers aren’t consuming their products at all.”

Bell also believes that cable companies are going to have to change their core business practices in order to stay competitive or just survive in the changing market.

“Cable and satellite lost over three million subscribers last year in 2018. If you do the math and think ‘three million times 150 dollars average per month times twelve,’ you realize that’s a lot of revenue these cable providers are losing,” Bell said.

Michael Latham is a senior communications major focusing on film studies who is not subscribed to cable in his off-campus house. To him, streaming is the best option for college students for its variety and cost.

“I prefer streaming because you have the option of what you want to pick and the catalogue is more inclusive,” Latham said. “When you get cable, I’d only be watching two or three channels versus going to Netflix where I can watch the shows I want to watch at a much cheaper price.”

Latham also believes that streaming is better for viewing entertainment with friends and is the preferred method for college students with busy lives.

“Streaming makes watching things much more of an event and you can plan when you watch things, whether that be a Sunday night or when you get home from class,” Latham said. “You can do it more easily than with cable. You don’t have to be at a certain destination at a certain time, you can watch whenever.”

Despite the disruption that streaming has caused in the entertainment industry, Bell believes that is a net positive for both the industry and students.

“It gives consumers more choices with great content in an affordable package,” Bell said. 

arts@dailytarheel.com