Posted on November 4
We dipped our toe in last time, now to get our feet wet.
Although streaming video platforms have been around since the early 2000’s (YouTube in 2005 and Netflix streaming in 2007), they really began to gain popularity around 2012. It all began to shift when the content evolved from existing movies and shows to original content. From 2012 to 2016 series like ‘House of Cards,’ ‘Orange is the New Black’ and ‘Stranger Things’ debuted on Netflix. Amazon Prime Video offered shows such as ‘Bosch,’ ‘The Man in the High Castle’ and ‘Sneaky Pete.’ These were game changers.
OK, maybe not as much as a game changer as calling good old Watson back in the day with some of his first phone calls, but game changer, nonetheless. Why is it so important? For the first time, streaming video moved away from watching clips on YouTube and movies and shows that had previously been released. Now, original content was available without the need for a physical copy such as VHS or a DVD.
During the early 2010’s streaming platforms had become a destination for original content. People signed up for them just to see movies and shows not available anywhere else. Cord Cutting, which started slowly around 2008, suddenly gained momentum.
These services began to gain popularity and moved from fringe, almost niche watching, to now being accepted as more mainstream. Cord Cutting was here to stay. Streaming was primetime.
From 2015 to 2017, Sling TV, DIRECTVNOW and YouTubeTV launched, and now entire cable lineups were available via streaming. There were now options that never existed before.
In hindsight, streaming was starting to do to cable TV what cell phones did to Alexander Graham Bell’s landlines. Today, it is almost a rarity to find a home phone in someone’s house.
A quick recap:
- Streaming video platforms aren’t new. They have been around for more than 15 years.
- In 2012, streaming became more mainstream as original content began to debut.
- Cord Cutting, or cancelling cable TV in favor of streaming, has been accelerating for a decade.
Look for this series to continue every other week. We will dive deeper into the world of streaming.
For a chance to win HTC swag, like and post a question on what streaming topics you’d like discussed in this series!
Next up. ‘Cord Cutting – a deeper look’.
