As Netflix, Amazon, Max, Hulu, Disney+ and more democratize entertainment to the masses, staying in has become the new going out. No longer do we need to follow strict cable schedules to catch a glimpse of our favorite shows or drop 20 bucks on a movie ticket; with streaming, our very living rooms have become direct portals into the entertainment industry.
One of the most impactful effects of streaming is the shift in consumer viewing habits. Before streaming, people had to wait weeks or even months to watch a full season of a show, with individual episodes releasing each week. Finales of particularly popular shows became nationwide spectacles. The 2007 “The Sopranos” finale, for example, reached 11.9 million people when it premiered and caused the song “Don’t Stop Believing,” prominently featured in its final scene, to surge 482% in sales.
Now, however, streaming services facilitate binge-watching by releasing entire seasons of shows all at once. Per the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, binge watching has “become one of the most popular ways of spending free time, especially among young people.” The rise of binge watching, they claim, can be traced back to 2013 when Netflix began to drop full seasons of original content at once. Since then, binge watching has become a staple of home entertainment, though not without some drawbacks, as the same journal found “excessive or problematic binge-watching may lead to further isolation and a feeling of loneliness.”
Streaming services’ global reach has also allowed for a more interconnected and worldly viewing experience. “Squid Game,” originally from South Korea, reached #1 on Netflix in 2021, resonating with people across the globe. Streaming elevates voices that may not have reached this exposure through traditional media to a global audience. Conversely, the rise of streaming also has led to issues with residual payments given to actors and writers, with the lack of transparency one of the principal causes of the Writers’ and Actors’ strikes of 2023.
As we enter a new age of entertainment, the way we watch will continue evolving. Already, VR entertainment and AI-generated content are garnering attention, and time will tell how these new innovations will revolutionize the entertainment industry even more.
