Thursday, March 5, 2015

Is Netflix Killing Cable?

Mollie Abts
Economics
Reuter A2
2/27/15

Is Netflix Killing Cable?

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Many of us are very familiar with Netflix, and how it allows us to binge watch our favorite tv shows whenever we want. Every time we choose Netflix over regular cable tv, does it impact the success and revenue collected by the said cable company?

Netflix began in 1999 when it launched its unlimited movie rental subscription for a monthly payment, and later introduced its streaming application in 2007, which allowed its members to watch movies and tv shows from their computers and gaming devices. Currently, Netflix has 36 million US customers, and has streamed over 4 billion hours of video. The demand for cable has been impacted by these newer innovations to classic tv, and is experiencing a cord cutting revolution. A “cord cutter” refers to a person who gets rid of cable and instead subscribes to a company like Netflix or Hulu that allows you to watch unlimited shows for a low monthly cost. As seen in the graph below, 18.1% of all households that stopped their cable subscription in 2013 chose to use Netflix or Hulu instead. This was a 5.4% increase from 2010. The average household pays approximately $160 a month for cable, which seems extreme compared to the $8 a month for Netflix. Households are making trade offs by giving up cable to save extra money by using Netflix.

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The number of people getting rid of cable may be rising, but the steady rate at which it is rising is not nearly enough to shut down cable companies for good, at least not in the near future. The duel between cable companies and streaming networks is just evidence of the invisible hand regulating the economy of television; competition drives these companies to outdo the other by offering lower prices and bundle deals. This is a prime example of the free market economy aspect of America. Consumers are motivated by their self interest to get the best deal while still being able to watch their favorite shows. Time Warner Cable has released a lower costing plan that allows households to receive fewer channels, encouraging people that they can still save money while keeping cable. Netflix is even unintentionally helping cable stations, says Josh Sapan, CEO of AMC Networks. He says “New viewers are finding [our] shows on a digital service, catching up on prior seasons and then tuning into AMC for new seasons in greater numbers, many for the first time.” This came after AMC decided to stream their top shows The Walking Dead and Mad Men for the first time in May 2012.

For now, cable companies will not let Netflix be the death of them because they are finding ways to make up for the money they lost by limiting the amount of videos a home is able to stream per month using the internet provided by the cable company, and by raising the prices of internet service. As time goes on and more people consider cutting the cord, cable companies will become more creative in keeping their customers by lowering prices and creating ways for consumers to save money while still keeping their subscription.

Sources Cited

"Is Netflix Killing Cable Television?" The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. .

"Netflix." Netflix. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

"Netflix Thrives As Economy Slides."Forbes. Forbes Magazine. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

Stenovec, Timothy. "Yes, Netflix And Hulu Are Starting To Kill Cable." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

56 comments:

  1. Taylor, I thought that your topic was very relevant and it was definitely something that I had experienced over the past few years as I decided where to go to college. The cost is so astronomical it is a little crazy, with all the scholarships and financial aid it helps but I don’t think there is enough for everyone. And while college is a public good it definitely isn’t available for everyone because of the financial costs. It is just unfortunate that people aren’t able to go to school or the school that they want to is too expensive. So you were right people really do have to look if the marginal benefit outweighs the marginal cost. I thought that the graph you provided that include the median family income was very insightful, and it showed just how much the cost of college has gone up lately. I don’t know if there is any data on this but I think it would’ve been interesting to see how many people don’t go to their dream college, or simply don’t go to college at all because of the cost. What do you think this data would look like?

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  2. This post was very intriguing, and to see the amount of users and their time invested into Netflix really was eye opening. I liked how you incorporated trade-offs into the decision of Netflix v. Cable. I wonder what would happen to cable companies if Netflix was extracted from our daily life, and wonder if they would raise prices or what. But overall, this was a very good blog post.

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  3. Netflix is becoming supercilious to cable company's because of the overall marginal benefit. It is able to extract all the shows you want and not have any commercials. The trade off to getting Netflix would be paying the 8 dollars a month, though I think it is well worth it because it would save you hours of time not watching commercials. Overall cable companies are going to have to step up their customer satisfaction because in modern day the internet seems to be more than able to satisfy everyone's entertainment needs.

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  4. Is it true that the decline in cable happened when Netflix went online? The demand for cable is going down due to Netflix being so much cheaper and ready accessible. I personal watch less tv every since I have gotten Netflix. It would be crazy if the market completely shifted to Netflix and cable had to be shut down.

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  5. I was very shocked by the how many people are using Netflix. Considering that they are still a rather young company, their success is very impressive. Something that I was surprised at is how the CEO of AMC, Josh Sapan, said Netflix helps cable channels. After hearing his reasoning behind it I could defiantly see how cable could benefit from Netflix. Overall I enjoyed reading your post.

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  6. I liked that you used a popular public good, Netflix, as everyone anywhere is most likely subscribed to. I never knew that the two companies almost aided each other as one would help when view previous seasons or episodes they missed, and the other was used by the public to watch the newest episode/season. It was interesting knowing the trade-offs of both Netflix- streaming unlimited amount of movies which tend to be older and not the newest season, and Cable- the newest season, the upcoming news and the most recent sports games.

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  7. Similarly in my household, we transitioned from having satellite cable to Netflix and truly haven't looked back, in the sense of necessity and especially in a financial perspective. It's literally a fraction of what regular cable would cost and provides, at least to me, more preferable entertainment. This has been a trend among many families as more and more stray away from cable, but the cable companies know and have been clawing and scratching their way back into the competition. Many cable companies, like Time Warner or AT&T offer cable and internet services, usually in a bundle. They have been taking their internet services and limiting the bandwidth available for Netflix, resulting slow loading times and poor streaming quality, attempting to get back customers. However, legislation has recently passed that stops this possibility and will give fair rights to customers and businesses once again.

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  8. The competition that online movie/TV show streaming services are creating is staggering. After all these years cable companies have built up their services only to find that advancements in technology are causing their sales to plummet.As budgets get tighter, consumers are forced to analyze the opportunity cost of cable, often choosing to turn away from it for the drastically cheaper options. However I don’t believe that these online services such as Netflix will be completely dominating cable anytime soon, since there are many live and much more recent shows on cable that people love to watch and cannot be found on online streaming services. This is a huge debate today, and you did a good job analyzing it with evidence.

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  9. I really enjoyed your post and how you chose a subject that is very relatable: especially to all of us high schoolers. I never really thought about it, but now it really makes sense that Netflix is killing cable. Just looking back at how much I use Netflix compared to cable, I definitely use Netflix WAY more! Even seeing that Netflix is a relatively new company, the progress and success that they have made is incredible. Nice job!

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  10. It this point I really don't see the point of having cable anymore. Most of what you watch seems to be commercials and stupid reality shows. Netflix on the other hand is a better trade-off. With Netflix you can watch what shows you specifically want to watch without ads. The reasons this is a better deal is because when you pay for cable you are paying for all the channels half of which you probably don't even watch in the first place. Cable can also be a pain to have to set up. With Netflix all you need is a compatible device (phone, tablet, t.v,laptop etc.) and an internet connection.

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  11. I agree with the Netflix and how the budget can get over the limit, and sometimes we think that Netflix is good for out brains but it is really not. Also I believe that people take the Netflix for granted when you compare it to the Cable. Cable is expensive but its worth it also.

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  12. I never really thought about cable and netflix this way. I can see now that it is a huge debate throughout the country if people want to keep cable and get a different program to save money or cut all cable and save money by only doing netflix. Consumers of Hulu or Netflix might say they use it more that the TV itself, so why pay for both? The graphs that you had from 2010-2013 showed a great presentation of how much this all have changed throughout only 3 years! Overall you did a very nice job on taking a thing like netflix (that a lot of people use) and making a debate into it! Good job!

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  13. For most people what they pay for a cable bill is a tough thing to do. So the fact that some families are using Netflix or Hulu for the three tv shows does not surprise me, as it is very much cheaper than what the cable companies are charging. Yes they may be sacrificing seeing new shows when they first come out but if thats all that is being sacrificed it is worth the savings each month.

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  14. As someone who has stopped watching TV and only watches what is offered on Netflix and Hulu, I feel that this may become a more popular trend across the nation. I do also believe that this could create a wide amount of problems for the country in terms of political debates as well as news programs. If people stop watching these programs they would be missing out on the updates that are provided and untimely create a large amount of job loss for those working in the news industries as well as making it more difficult for the government to speak to the people.

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  15. Even though Netflix in a lot cheaper than cable, I don’t think most people are ready to chose one or the other yet. It’s nice having both because on Netflix you can watch older seasons of things, but with cable you can watch shows right when they come out and then be in the loop and part of the discussion. Cable is also nice because I hate waiting for things and want to see new episodes right when they come out. A big advantage Netflix has over cable besides the price though is not having any commercial interruptions, and that also shortens the show time leaving you with more time to watch even more episodes. Cable tv is used and preferred by many people so I don’t think Netflix will necessarily put it out of business, but Netflix probably has a negative impact on dvds because people no longer need to buy their movie or tv show seasons if they know it’ll be on Netflix.

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  16. It’s true, Netflix is a crazy popular form of viewing movies and TV shows, and it does present a threat to cable companies. Most people, if not all of the people, I know have a Netflix account, including myself. For myself, I view Netflix far more than I do cable TV, and I know I’m not the only one in doing that. Though this causes a serious problem for cable, there are things that Netflix cannot satisfy. For example, new episodes from your TV show take just about until the new season starts to be entered, and in that case, you’re already a season behind. That puts cable ahead of Netflix, as on cable, you can watch the shows live and record them. Netflix also cannot put on new content right away, because that would immediately take away money from movie producers. Cable, however, is allowed and is expected to provide newer content. Though Netflix is a great tool and can cause a threat to cable, I think cable will be fine in the long run.

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  17. In the technology industry there is a lot of competition from Netflix to online games such as poker. They are constantly coming up with new ways to make their devise better to stay ahead of the game. However T.v is one of those things that is never going to go away, even with all their competitors. T.v company's might lose some customers do to Netflix but T.v companies will always have a steady base income.

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  18. This was a very relatable post for high schoolers because almost all of us sit in class and pretend to pay attention to our teachers while we are actually watching Netflix. Netflix first drove rental movie companies like blockbuster into the ground by offering more and newer movies, and now Netflix is threatening cable by streaming thousands of TV shows and series. The one thing that Netflix is missing that prevents it from eradicating cable is that there is no news or live television.

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  19. There are a lot of people that do watch Netflix more than cable, but Netflix also doesn't add new seasons of t.v shows until the new season of that show comes back on cable and there are times when you won't be able to find it on any other streaming sites. There are some people that like to keep cable just to be able to keep up with their show that they watch. However, you did a good job at finding the evidence to analyze and being able to explain it.

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  20. I like the people use Netflix and it is also we can watch movies or TV shows when ever we want with family. Today 36 million people using Netflix in the united states. It was one of good thing to make account in Netflix. Netflix steaming unlimited amount of movies and TV shows and its demand for cable has going down because Netflix or Hulu allows to watch anytime they give "cord cutter" and it doesn't need cable that's why demand for cable going down. Online thing going up.

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  21. I almost find it hard to believe that Netflix has even been around that long, but thinking back to it, they also used to send DVD’s through the mail. Now, anyone and everyone can get their favorite shows and movies whenever and wherever they want. Netflix has much more to offer, for a much cheaper rate. Would you rather pay over 100 dollars to have a cable box only where a tv is, or pay 8 bucks a month to watch tv and movies on your phone, tablet, computer, and also your TV. The main thing that cable has on Netflix is live TV, which is huge, but if Netflix producers want to take a step up and have absolutely no competition, they could just add a few things to make them the new TV provider.

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  22. I believe that Netflix will continue to be a powerhouse in the entertainment industry for years to come. Customers want Netflix because of its TV/movie selection, and they have the ability to pay for it because of its low price of only $8. This creates a high demand for Netflix. The substitute effect is also prevalent here. Netflix encourages consumers to substitute their more expensive cable service with the less expensive streaming service it offers. This competition between Netflix and cable television is a prime example of the Law of Demand in action. As long as Netflix keeps its reasonable pricing, consumption of the service will continue to increase.

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  23. I don't think of Netflix being a competition with Cable. Cable provides us with the most recent movies/shows that we would all like to watch to stay up to date with society. Netflix provides us a way to catch up with these shows when ever we would like or just watch old movies that cable can't provide us. I doubt though that Netflix will ever take over Cable because people want to watch the most current shows/movies and don't want to wait for it to come out on Netflix. However, Netflix is the reason Hollywood and Blockbuster can't thrive.

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  24. Great piece! I loved how you related a topic so well known to many people to economics. It’s incredible how economics can weave itself into seemingly any topic. I loved your introduction because it is so relatable and so true. You did a great job including economic-related vocabulary too. The graph was also a nice visual to help tie and capture the outcome of Netflix in society. In your last paragraph, you talk about creative ways that cable companies will stay alive -- what do you think they will do? Do you think they will be able to withstand the rise of Netflix? Will they disappear altogether or not?

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  25. This is really very interesting, and I like the fact that you dug more into this. The majority of other students will probably connect similarly, but not all of them truly understand how the playing field is leveling out between companies like Netflix and various cable companies. It would have been nice to see you compare a few more entertainment companies, and maybe a graph next time but with where you left off I bet a few will still look more into it just out of curiosity. Good job.

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  26. I think that many people have Netflix along with cable, so they can always find something to watch for hours. Also I think that homework is the opportunity cost to Netflix. Netflix is kind of addicting if you get into a TV show; however it takes awhile to get new shows and movies on the Netflix. Therefore cable is still necessary for people to get updated shows and movies. However, it is a great way to get caught up on a season if one were to miss one. I think that cable is still necessary because there are news channels which a lot of people watch that are not going to be on Netflix. Therefore Netflix should be something on top of cable.

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  27. Sad to say, I am one of those people who binge watches TV shows, so I like to have Netflix available. Waiting an entire week for the next episode of a TV show kills me! Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime allow viewers to watch whole seasons for cheap or even free. Cable companies will be around for a while longer since individuals still like to watch shows that are streaming live. But, if Netflix were to put up episodes to new shows more quickly, or add in more TV shows, like the news and morning shows(Ellen, Good Morning America), I think that Netflix would take over much more quickly.

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  28. This was a really interesting topic. I would tend to agree with what others said about Netflix not having the latest sports games, and most recent shows all the time. With that being said, I don't necessarily agree that Netflix provides competition for Cable. I guess maybe for Movies on Demand from Time Warner Cable for example but not from the provider itself. I would be interested to know what would happen if Netflix started adding more recent shows? Would the cable companies be in even more trouble? Overall, great job!

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  29. This is super interesting because this new trend of streaming networks has being increasing and I actually talked about something similar in my blog about China blocking streaming networks censuring television to their people. You did a great job incorporating a lot of vocabulary words from the class into your blog and it flowed smoothly. This topic is probably controversial at the time as more and more users are entering the world of Netflix and Hulu, my family is one of those examples who have opted out of TV cable and the fact that cable companies would be willing to limit internet usage is surprising and I hope it doesn’t catch on.

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  30. Mollie, I thought your topic was very relatable because many people--myself included--have Netflix. I never thought about Netflix replacing cable but it may be a possibility in the future. I agree that Netflix and cable could work together because users could catch up on the old shows on Netflix, and watch the new ones on cable. Your statistics and graphs were very helpful while reading your post and your introduction really grabbed my attention. Do you think that if Netflix got more movies and shows per month it would increase Netflix users and decrease cable users? I really liked reading your post! Nice job!

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  31. This was a good topic, it is interesting to me how one company can really make the cable industry a little nervous. I'm actually surprised that more people don't quit cable for Netflix because of the price differential and the fact Netflix more than usual has exactly what you want to watch when you want to watch it.

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  32. This topic is very interesting and relatable! As cord cutting is becoming more and more popular its interesting that it actually kind of makes larger companies scared. The cord cutters are doing what’s best for them because why should they pay $120 plus dollars a month when they could only be paying $8. The shear amount of hours being streamed by netflix users, 4 billion, is also surprising because that is a huge take away from major network providers. I agree that the cable companies are going to have to begin getting more creative with the ways that they persuade viewers to watch their channel.

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  33. I personally do believe that netflix is killing cable, I have been a netflix user for around 5 years and still have yet to watch everything. Cable plays the same thing pretty frequently, or they don't play things you want to see at all. Netflix will supply what the subscribers want for the most part. I don't think there is much cable companies can do besides just tossing cable in with the internet subscription, since that seems to be all they're useful for now a days.

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  34. The idea of people switching probably just has to deal with personal interest. Competition has rose in the past decade of television and the tradeoffs of choosing netflix over cable seems like a great idea. As you mentioned, billions of shows are streamed which means that Netflix has beaten cable due to a variety of shows. If people are saving money and are getting more opportunity benefits over cost, then cable is going to lose this battle.

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  35. I have never thought about the competition between companies like Netflix and cable. It does make sense that the more people who use Netflix and Hulu, which tend to be cheaper, the more people would drop their cable to save money. If a household does tend to use Netflix as the primary entertainment source, cable becomes an elastic good that can easily be cut when they have a much cheaper substitute. Although, I thought it was interesting that you brought up how some people will watch older seasons to catch up to the new ones. That does bring in a lot of viewers which definitely helps the cable companies because Netflix and Hulu both take a while to update with new releases.

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  36. While it is true that many many viewers of television and movies are switching over to the joys of streaming, the truth of the matter is that cable TV will always be around in a sense for that as long as cable has authority over some TV networks, they can be make sure they will stay exclusive to said cable networks. An example of this would be the corporation who owns Nickelodeon, Viacom, who recently removed all traces of their media from Netflix. Along with this, cable networks will eventually realize how elastic of a demand they have and furthermore change the way the sell their product whether it be cutting the price or sweetening the deal.

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  37. As someone who watches Netflix for most of my entertainment or streams shows online, I've noticed that I don't watch NEARLY as much television as I used to. Even when it comes to shows that I want to catch up on, I feel more comfortable watching it online rather that sitting in front of the television. I think this might be because I can multitask; do other things online in one window and have the stream in another. But my house still does have cable and I can't see it going anytime soon. Didn't know that the Netflix/online streaming eventually DOES help some shows though, with how they watch the up-to-date series online and then keep tabs on the t.v. broadcast for newer seasons. It's unbalanced, but they do sort of benefit each other!

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  38. This was a great topic and very interesting. Thinking ahead into the future when I will start paying my first set of cable bills I would want the cost to be as low as possible so I could see myself becoming a cord cutter in order to save money. Plus, I love Netflix, who doesn't? however, It's good to see cable companies are finding ways to lower prices that way they stay afloat because nobody wants cable companies to start laying off hard workers as it won't be beneficial to the economy with more people losing jobs. They are going to need to become more creative that's for sure and I'm curious with what they will come up with. Nice job on this blog post!

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  39. This was a great topic and very interesting. Thinking ahead into the future when I will start paying my first set of cable bills I would want the cost to be as low as possible so I could see myself becoming a cord cutter in order to save money. Plus, I love Netflix, who doesn't? however, It's good to see cable companies are finding ways to lower prices that way they stay afloat because nobody wants cable companies to start laying off hard workers as it won't be beneficial to the economy with more people losing jobs. They are going to need to become more creative that's for sure and I'm curious with what they will come up with. Nice job on this blog post!

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  40. I didn’t realize that Netflix has been around that long, but I guess it probably got more popular when it released the streaming option rather than just renting videos. I know a few people who have cut out cable for Netflix/Hulu but the majority just own both. Just as with cable, Netflix also has options that cost more than the standard. For instance two devices can stream Netflix simultaneously for $8 a month, but you can upgrade to four devices for $11. Netflix doesn’t offer the news episodes of shows but like you said, people catch up on the old shows then tune into cable to watch the current season. I didn’t really consider Netflix and cable to benefit one another, but now I see that they can both make a profit at the same time.

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  41. I really enjoyed that you chose to post about this specific topic because basically everyone can relate to it! I know I can and it definitely was something I was curious about. It is easy to tell from the graph you provided that as the years have passed, more households have cut regular cable and switched over to a program like Netflix. I think that while Netflix is cheaper and has a variety of shows and movies, it will never fully put cable out of business. Cable carries newer and many more shows or entertainment than does Netflix and I agree that they probably both help each other out. Some houses may have just cable, and some houses may have just Netflix but I would be curious to know what percentage of households have both running. I know that I have both at my house and I know many people that have both as well. Those customers would be the best for both companies and keep the businesses running!

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  42. It is interesting to see how many people choose Netflix or Hulu over cable. And yet Netflix or Cable aren't perfect. Netflix doesn't have every episode ever of every show and cable cant meet the demands of the watchers. But personally I too believe that Netflix is killing cable in that is cheaper than cable and now you don't need a technician to come to your house to set up your cable when most T.V's come with the streaming service and most gaming systems have it too.

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  43. Even though more and more people are “cutting the cords” so to speak due to Netflix always being available, I don’t think that cable companies will ever go down due to companies like Netflix or Hulu because there is more to offer on live television than just the shows that people have been binging on. Channels like ESPN or Sportscenter can’t always be streamed after the fact on these TV sites because a lot of what they air is live. Even if these channels can be offered without the need for cable in the future, there are still people who enjoy watching their television shows as they happen, and use Netflix as a supplement to catch up on the episodes that they missed.

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  44. I know for families such as mine, that Netflix isn't on the list to pay for each month. On the other hand, 4 billion users of Netflix is a lot more than expected, especially with all of the other businesses that have been opened and are in usage. $8 a month for as many movies as you want is an amazing deal, especially compared to a Redbox where you have to pay $1 for each movie you rent from it, and then can be penalized with a fee if you don't return it within a day. I find it interesting that many cable companies aren't concerned, or as concerned as they should be, with these new achievements of new companies coming out. Netflix is a good idea, no matter what anyone may say about it however.

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  45. Unfortunately, cable companies can still change crazy prices for wi-fi because everyone needs it, but I could see cable going away in the future. Programs like Netflix, Hulu, or youtube have the same shows just a little bit older. There is no real point to having cable except for watching sporting events, but even then you can stream it on your phone. Even with the many other entertainment options families do still pay the hefty price for cable. This is because people can’t wait for their show to come out on netflix, they want it now. The idea of the invisible hand goes that way too, people are inpatient and feel they need sometimes both netflix and cable. Do you think once netflix has people hooked they will eventually jack up the price just like the cable companies did with cable a couple years ago? Even though netflix is great I would never pay a larger amount of money for it. All in all, this essay brings up a great point that our world is changing and what we know now will be different in the next couple of years.

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  46. Sometimes people can get overwhelmed based on their interests/activities. It should be a balanced ratio in my opinion. In my family, we have both Netflix and cable.

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  47. For sure I agree that cable companies are suffering a bit and will slowly become not as much of a popular choice, but I didn't realize that a lot of individuals actually do get rid of cable. That number is a larger percentage than I would have guessed, which shows how much the market is shifting and that people are motivated by self interest to get to most for the least money possible. One issue of Netflix is you can't watch anything live such as a sports game but this is fine for some people if they do not watch programs such as that.

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  48. I was under the belief that streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix greatly outweighed cable broadcasting services in customers, yet seeing how the two are extremely close to one another in customer amount is rather surprising. However it is more than apparent that if these streaming services continue to offer their services at a significantly lower price than that of their competition eventually cable companies will face an incredibly large backlash for their inability to combat their competition.

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  49. Personally, when I choose to watch TV 99% of the time I'd be on Netflix. That's because I am able to choose what to watch, instead of having to wait for when a certain show is scheduled to air on cable. Also with Netflix, there's no more being interrupted by commercials. I agree that at this point Netflix is taking over and that cable companies will if they hadn't already lose customers to Netflix or similar services.

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  50. It's interesting to look at it. It depends on preferences. If you enjoying seeing everything new you, for now, must stick with cable. Yet if you don't care there is no point to having cable since it limits you so much. It's cheaper to just watch it on your computer as much as you want.

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  51. 3/6: Netflix and cable are in a sort of battle to get as many customers as they can, especially as people weigh the pros and cons of having both, or just one (cable or Netflix.) Just having Netflix is a lot cheaper, $8 a month versus $160. Not having cable has its drawbacks, like not being able to watch live shows like sport games or the very newest season of your favorite show, but there’s so much more material on Netflix that consumers can say makes up for it. Personally, I wouldn’t care if my family got rid of cable and we just had Netflix. I suspect a lot of families feel the same.

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  52. Okay, I was just scrolling and when I saw your article it popped out at me. I started thinking that this would make sense although I saw that there are a great amount of movies offered on Cable there are still some movies that aren't offered Netflix. Or even a complete season that are kept to where they actually ended on. For example one of my favorite T.V shows in the world was added to Netflix but they only had the first two seasons and they are on season five which is frustrating for the watcher. But I can logically see Netflix being in a battle with Cable

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  53. It is really surprising that netflix costs about 20 times less than cable per month. Who in their right mind would pay for cable then? You could pay for hulu, netflix, a couple redbox movies and still have some money left over for some Saturday night black at your local strip club. Pretty much the only reason to get cable is to watch sporting events or live television. With the internet however, this makes it even easier to skip out on cable all together. So why do people still have cable? It’s most likely because people are simply too stubborn. They don’t want to switch over to a streaming service because it’s new and different and, dare I say it, scary.

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  54. One benefit of cable compared to Netflix is the immediacy of cable. I've never been able to watch a live basketball game or the Super Bowl on Netflix. I need cable for those. So, though Netflix is an awesome invention, and may be the way of the future after they adapt a bit, I believe that in the near future, cable companies will do just fine.

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  55. I strongly believe that netflix is killing cable. I know many friends and family who instead of paying for the high cost of cable every month, they instead invent in a cheap Netflix subscription and an HDMI cord. I know that when I move out, that is exactly what I’m doing. For those who want to catch up on recent episodes, television sites often provide the latest episodes to be streamed through your computer. Not only that, but there are sites out there that may often not be legal, but are very accessible. I would fight that it isn't Netflix that’s directly killing cable, but rather the internet in general.

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  56. Netflix and other streaming networks are great for most things, but one thing that they are missing is the “live” aspect like a sports game or the 6 o’clock news. Additionally, they lack the excitement of waiting each week for the new episode of your favorite show to air, as when one episode finishes, you can watch the next one instantly. However, the convenience of watching on mobile devices and whichever episodes seems to outweigh the cons for many. Even so, I don’t believe society will be willing to give up cable altogether.

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