In this week’s lecture we focused on streaming services, mainly Netflix. An interesting question that was raised during the lecture asked us to think of the last time we actually watched something on TV and not a streaming site or YouTube. This actually took me a while to think of times i’ve actually sat down and watched something on TV, as I would always prefer watching something on my laptop because it is just so much more convenient. The only real times that I use a TV nowadays is for live sport, as that is basically the only aspect of television that has not really been adopted by streaming services, excluding stupidly overpriced  NBA streaming services or the Premier League Optus partnership.

With the increasing dominance of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, I think it is inevitable that these companies will begin to venture into live sporting events to further their reach into the television area. As much as it can be an issue having such large companies like Netflix own such a large percentage of all content, the ease of use they provide would be greatly appreciated if they begin to delve into the realm of sports.

 

“I think it’s really just this diffusion through society, as more and more people use Netflix we have better shows and more of them,” he said. “[But] in terms of getting to a true 1:1 tie ratio with cable, that includes a lot of sports, which we don’t have plans for.” – Reed Hastings