With many different entertainment options readily available at home or on mobile devices, options for watching movies and shows are wide open.
In August 2022, streaming outperformed cable in television consumption for the first time in U.S. history, with a 0.4% difference between the two. Sophomore Allena Crites said there are many reasons people may be choosing streaming over cable.
“Streaming is a lot more efficient than cable because you can just search for what you want to watch instead of scrolling through channels all day,” Crites said. “Also, certain apps are free, and you don’t have to pay for them like cable, and most of them don’t have ads or commercials either.”
For a while, Netflix was the main choice for people who wanted something other than cable. Now, there are hundreds of streaming sites. Each service has something different to offer, both in terms of licensed shows and original content. Freshman Molly Vaughan prefers Disney+ to other streaming sites because of the variety of movies and shows.
“… [Disney+ is] very universal,” Vaughan said. “It is a place for kids to watch shows, but it’s also a place where adults can watch shows. It’s got a lot of good shows that’ll keep you entertained and not just tune it out and go on your phone.”
Hulu is affiliated with Disney+, but its content is generally for a more mature audience. Junior Addison Eden uses Hulu more than other streaming platforms.
“[I prefer] Hulu because it has more shows and movies available that I’m interested in and it doesn’t remove things after four months for no reason or start a series and then cancel it as often as Netflix does,” Eden said.