In some ways it almost seems like those in charge of British TV are crying foul when it comes to the fact that Netflix and other streaming platforms are gobbling up all the profits that used to go to other programming needs. Should someone tell them that the same thing is happening in the US? It’s nothing new to realize that streaming TV is fast overtaking several networks and making them obsolete, it’s been going on for a while now and many upon many people have actually acclimated to the fact. While conforming to the idea is not necessarily the message that needs to be sent, calling out the streaming platforms for doing something that has been the natural way of innovation for so long seems a bit childish.
Perhaps someone should remind British program director Tony Hall that at one point and time the radio was the only type of broadcast that was available to anyone. It was the news, it was sports, it was children’s method of entertainment thanks to radio shows and music. For a while the radio was the only thing that was used for so many purposes, and people relied heavily on it. Then came the TV, and the radio was all but forgotten as it slipped into obscurity for a short time and radio programmers had to change up their game and give people something different to listen to. But guess what? The radio is still here, and it’s still thriving in its own way.
After TV came video tapes and then DVD’s. Once the VHS cassette player was invented it wasn’t too long until the video store started to compete with the TV and the theater. While it didn’t disrupt the former as much it certainly wreaked havoc on the much older institution that was the movie theater. People didn’t have to pay to sit in the theater any longer, all they had to do was wait for their favorite movie to come out on VHS. The same happened when DVD’s came in, the VHS player went the way of the dinosaur and was considered obsolete.
Then Netflix came along and the streaming network began to take off, and everything that had once been thought to be useful and permanent was uprooted yet again. Video stores went out of business, entire chains were shut down, and yet DVD players and the theaters remained in business. They’d found that people still wanted what they were offering and as a result didn’t do much except to change their product and their service to keep up with the current trends. Theaters got more expensive, but in return now have a great deal more to offer than just a hard seat and a bucket of popcorn. DVD players gave way to BluRay players, and so on and so forth as innovation continues to drive the industry forward.
Netflix and other streaming services are not out to close down TV on any continent or in any country. They are there to offer their services and expand just as any business will. The success of any network depends, as always, in how they adapt and how they will continue to push their product in a way to which people will respond.
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