Streaming Services Remain A Strong Competitor To Cable TV

The fact that Netflix and other similar streaming services continue to rise in numbers and success is undeniable. As people become more and more tech savvy, the move towards more modern viewing methods becomes inevitable.

In May 2015, a survey was conducted to detail the number of TV viewers who use streaming services on any device in the United States. During the survey period, 40 percent of respondents stated that they used Netflix to stream video content. In total, 58 percent of responding TV users used any streaming service.

This is partly because streaming is a lot more flexible and less expensive when compared to cable TV. To have a rounded idea of thee issue at hand, it’s important to make a comparison between streaming services and cable.

Streaming versus cable: a comparison

• Affordability
There’s no doubt that streaming is cheaper than cable. In addition, the pricing is competitive among the different streaming service providers. You can always check to decide which streaming service is best for you. The subscription is very cheap and the data consumed depends on the amount of time spent online.

On the other hand, the cost of cable subscription is very high. Although, you have access to hundreds of channels, the reality is that most people do not watch more than 20 channels on the average. Invariably, you’re paying more for services you don’t even use and this is why so many people are cutting the cord.

• Flexibility

Streaming services are more flexible to use. For instance, streaming provides users with a multitude of on-demand events they can view on any digital screen, any time they choose. You can also watch live videos on the go.

This is made possible because wide variety of electronic gadgets have streaming enabled features. Not only this, the streaming technology is compatible with most operating systems and video game consoles.

For example, Netflix is compatible with
most Apple products, Amazon products, Google TV devices, and Microsoft enabled devices. It also works perfectly with electronic devices from Samsung, LG and sharp among others.

Cable on the other hand is kind of fixed. It is suitable for home or office use since it isn't mobile.

Conclusion

This is not to say that streaming doesn't have its own downside as well. While residents of large metropolitan areas usually enjoy fairly cheap access to the internet with data caps ranging from abysmal to limitless, there are plenty of people who live entirely outside these comfort zones. It is not unusual to see residents of rural areas paying exorbitant Internet fees with incredibly low caps.

For those classes of people, internet streaming is absolutely not an option unless they are willing to cough up some very large fees after they have gone past their caps. The only reasonable way they might take advantage of a streaming service is if they were viewing very few shows, and movies which is far from an ideal solution.
But if we consider every other factor such as ease of usage, and cost, then streaming carries the day.