Welcome to 2021. We're still in a global pandemic and so more than every people are looking for things to do at home. Streaming services have been literal saviors during this time. Staying at home would have been pretty boring in say the early 2000s when we were still marking the video store hoping a new release would be available to rent (or buy) soon.
The streaming market was already changing but it had to become something more in 2020. They stepped up. Market leader Netflix has been pumping out tons of original content and were even able to justify a fee increase as a result. DC Universe shuttered their streaming service, incorporated it into HBO Max and then stunned movie studios by announcing that all their 2021 new releases would be released simultaneously with brick and mortar movie houses and HBO Max. CBS started closing the door on All Access and it consolidating that into Paramount+. NBC launced their Peacock streaming service. Disney+ launced several big releases on their streaming platform including the live action Mulan and the hit musical Hamilton. And this is just the stuff I was aware of.
Now that everyone wants a piece of the streaming pie though, it leads to some hard decision making in what you're willing to invest in and my viewing habits have changed as a direct result. They were already changing but because the streaming market is changing at such a face pace it's been a bit of a struggle to keep up.
1. The 2021 TV season is noticably deminished
It couldn't be helped. Remember the writer's strike? We lost a ton of TV shows because there was either no writers or the studios tried to fake it with whoever they had lying around. 2020 was like that except there was a literal pandemic. The new Fall season has fewer episodes of everything and most were forced to feature aspects of the pandemic to stay relevant. New content has been difficult to produce during the pandemic. Even the streaming services are feeling it. Their saving grace was having lots of seasons of other new content to fill the void.
2. Can't Be Everywhere All At Once
This was it. The year that EVERYONE has a streaming service. All the broadcast networks have individual apps. Fortunately Hulu is still acting as an aggregate for ABC, NBC and FOX. CBS has always been the holdout and while I enjoyed having CBS All Access for a while it proved to be to finicky. I finally cancelled the service when it looked like they region locked me and wouldn't respond to my requests for support. Almost every Cable network also have individual apps (again, hooray for Hulu) including the premium services. In all the shuffle, I can't follow all the things I used to. Remember when I talked about AMC earlier in my blog and how difficult the app made it to keep up with The Walking Dead? I'm officially like 4 seasons behind now and I haven't picked up on any other AMC shows since. There's such a thing as being TOO exclusive.
3. I Can't AFFORD To Be Everywhere All At Once
Mo' apps means mo' money. Once you've got the Big 3 (Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime) things start to really add up. $13.99 for Netflix, $11.99 for Hulu (I like the no commercials options, okay?!) and $12.99 for Amazon (this is the only service I prepay for for an entire year). My bonus streams: Disney+ and HBO Max clocking in at $14.99 and $6.99 respectively. Technically $60 a month! It's still less than Cable but the thought of picking up any more services is cringe right now.
4. I No Longer Have Time To Even Try To Be Everywhere All At Once
In the early days of the pandemic I got a lot of television in. That didn't last very long though. I'm a sorta essential worker so after brief downtime I was back out there risking it all for the paycheck. That was when the FOMO kicked in. Everyone's ahead of me! It's only recently since more things have opened that things have evened out.
That's all I got for now. Good to be back. Encourage me to post stuff more often. Later.
