Is the golden age of Netflix streaming over?

Should Netflix be worried?

Despite the wealth of choice on Netflix, it turns out that most of us just want to watch the same things we’ve always been watching. The Office accounted for 7% of all US Netflix viewing last year and remains the most watched show by a considerable margin.

Original programmes have found great success – Stranger Things, Riverdale, and 13 Reasons Why have all clocked up healthy fan bases. But Netflix also benefits hugely from offering cosy, familiar shows that many of us grew up with and continue to enjoy. If those programmes go away, then there could be a big gap in the market and many subscribers may jump ship.

Of course, they won’t simply be ‘disappearing’. Shows like The Office will migrate to the streaming services owned by their parent company, in this case, NBCUniversal. Apple’s own platform will be titled Apple TV+ and already has programmes by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Jennifer Aniston confirmed as exclusives. Amazon’s Prime Video is part of the website’s Prime membership and has its own list of limited shows, including The Grand Tour and Jack Ryan. As more big publishers launch their own services, this trend will increase.

We’re already witnessing this happen with Disney+, which will launch November 12th and will host only Disney-owned shows. That may sound limiting but Disney owns, like, everything.  DC launched its own platform at the end of 2018 which focuses on all available content for its franchises – not just TV. Subscribers can view comics, art, and more from the DC universe.

Basically, we could be seeing less on Netflix and more on a variety of other platforms. Which means more money from us, unfortunately.

Are there positives to this development?

While it may seem a little doom and gloom, this could be a good move for programming in the long run. Yes, it’ll be more difficult to get all the shows you want under one subscription, but we may also get an even wider variety of original content made exclusively for each platform.

Breaking Bad was one of the first break out streaming successes, bringing in bundles of new subscribers who wanted to binge-watch the series in full. With more competition, we should expect studios to ramp up the quality and bag exclusives that entice viewers to pick their service, similar to how Netflix did during the early half of this decade.

We’ve seen this model used before for music streaming – Tidal has kept big name albums behind paywalls in an attempt to convert people from Spotify. Company rivalry could mean that standards get higher for original content, which may mean better shows for us.

Is the golden age really over?

If we do in fact get new, great shows from different studios, there’s no reason to suggest that this is necessarily the end of a golden period. Sure, it may not be the same as we’re used to, and we may have to be more selective with our money, but we may just be widening the variety of top-bill entertainment we can pick from.

Anyone with half a knack for business will tell you that streaming is obviously the way forward in nearly every sector of the entertainment industry – whether that’s gaming, TV, movies, or live sport. It makes sense that other companies are jumping on board. They’ll have a tough time dethroning Netflix, but what we may see is a more democratic industry that isn’t absolutely dominated by one company.

At this stage it’s unclear as to whether it will be a positive or negative in the long term, and while some may look toward the future with pessimism, we reckon there’s much to be potentially excited about.