Netflix is the most popular streaming service in the world right now. It is also the first indicator of the death of television channels. There are less and less people tuning into RTE to see a group of people being held hostage in a house by a man with a flare gun (Yes, this was actually a serious storyline on Fair City a few months ago, and it went on for multiple episodes. It’s good to see the taxpayer’s money being used for thrilling, edge of your seat entertainment) and more moving over to Netflix to watch their favourite show.

The standard of TV has risen tenfold in the last 20 years or so. Shows like Stranger things, Sons of Anarchy and Peaky Blinders have all raised the bar for quality on Television, and many of these types of shows are moving to streamed services such as Netflix. We are at the beginning of the transition of television from channels like BBC or ITV to streamed services such as Amazon and Hulu . The use of the internet has changed the way we do many things, including watching television.

Netflix has jumped on the opportunity and has changed the game when it comes how we watch TV shows. As of January 2018, Netflix had 117.58 million paying subscribers and have multiple offices across the world. It made $11 billion last year too.

Not only do they purchase television show rights off other networks, they have also pumped millions into original content. They hit the ground running with their originals with House of Cards in 2013 followed by hits such as Orange is the new black and most recently Stranger things. I could go on about Netflix and how good it is but there is only one thing really that separates it from normal broadcasters like RTE; the ability to watch any show at any time.

In this new commercialized world where everyone is busy, people don’t have time to sit down and watch a show that is on at 8 o clock on a Wednesday. Those days are gone and it is now all about binge watching shows. These services also release a whole season in one go, which is another option that traditional TV will not be able compete with in the near future.

The way we know TV is in the process of changing. In the years to come, everything will begin to move online and traditional satellite TV will slowly die off. It is hard to tell when this could happen, but personally, I reckon it could come within the next 10-15 years. I am not sure how I feel about it after growing up with normal TV channels and having to wait to watch a new show each week. It is the direction we are heading in however, so we will have to wait and see.

John McAuliffe

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