When you got home from school on a steamy summer day, do you recall your mother making you lunch and setting up your CRT TV, complete with a dependable cable network so you could watch Phineas and Ferb? Even before we realized it, OTT services like Netflix, Disney Plus, and others had supplanted this. Even while streaming services were designed to make our lives easier, there has recently been an extreme saturation that has resulted in a significant amount of clutter, which makes me long for the days before technology. I'm here to discuss this.
The Expected Characteristics of OTT
With the introduction of Netflix in 2007, streaming services were deemed to completely transform the way that people watched television. Individuals could now choose their preferred material from an extensive library and see it without any advertisements for a far lower cost than what it would have cost to install cable at their home.
All of the major entertainment firms sought to create OTT platforms because of their exclusivity and general simplicity of use, which led to the emergence of other platforms that are comparable to Netflix.
Step Back in Time a Few Years
But as time went on and the number of streaming services increased to an uncountable number, the rivalry among these services also intensified, resulting in an unequal distribution of content among various over-the-top (OTT) platforms. For example, to view movies from DC Studios, I'll need to subscribe to HBO MAX if, but to watch stuff from Marvel Studios, I'll need to get a Disney Plus subscription. Nevertheless, this would not be much of an issue if the material on these websites remained constant; rather, stuff constantly hopping around between platforms similar to Friends being added on Max and Hulu and taken off Netflix.
Bundles: The Battle
Now that we have access to so much fresh stuff, we have to handle an excessive amount of accounts and pay money to each of these websites separately, which adds up to entirely too much money being spent on these subscriptions. People started to stray from simplified OTT platforms only because of this aspect. Upon realizing this, major media corporations like as Disney introduced its bundles, offering consumers access to Disney+, Max, and Hulu services at a much reduced cost, all in one location. But there was also a disadvantage to this.
Despite being nice, these packages overlap. For example, the Disney+ bundle mentioned above is a good option if you want entertainment services. However, if you or a family member wants to watch sports, you will need to choose between a Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle or an ESPN/Fox/Warner Bros./Discovery bundle, which will cost extra money. It's like having to pay more for cable TV all over again. In summary, what is the purpose of it all?
The fact that we still have to spend money even after purchasing platform subscriptions is one of my main grievances with OTT platforms. Whether it's Disney Plus, Hulu, or Peacock, you have to shell out additional cash to watch without advertisements. When OTT first emerged, the main selling point—as far as I can recall—was the opportunity to watch without commercials if you switched from traditional cable to new OTT services.
What, therefore, is the remedy?
Now that the issues have been discussed, what potential fixes are there for these? Why not include the best aspects of cable TV into streaming services if that's how it used to be? The biggest media companies may provide a service pack including all the material, including infotainment, sports, kids' content, and entertainment content. similar to what other Cable TV providers used to do.
Another idea I have is to build a wall that will allow us to choose the material we want to view or the library we need from a certain streaming service, and then a personalized payment plan will be made for us depending on what we want to watch. This would stop us from spending money on content that we never even view.
Having said all of this, it's hard to distinguish between OTT and Cable's exclusivity anymore. Everything has grown so disorganized and jumbled that I regret the easier days when we could just enter the channel numbers on our remote control to view anything we wanted to watch. Yes, the OTT platforms promised to do away with the obtrusive commercials and lengthy waits, but in the end, they turned into the same thing they had vowed to eradicate.
