During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people around the globe turned to television as an escape from their real world. As the world shut down, there seemed to be not much else to do other than watching random shows. But where did people watch these shows? And how? The answer is not cable; people didn’t flip through channels for hours trying to find something vaguely interesting. They turned to Netflix and other similar streaming platforms to entertain themselves. And many people weren’t just watching on their tv’s; they turned to watching on their computers, and even their phones.

Netflix has dramatically changed the way that we consume media. Remember when you had to wait a week for the new episode of your favorite drama to come out? That waiting was even worse when the previous episode ended on a cliffhanger. Netflix has completely changed this experience for viewers, where we no longer have to wait a week to watch a new episode or months to finish one season of our favorite new show. You can watch it in one sitting; you can watch 10 years of television in a couple weeks if you’re really dedicated and have nothing else to do (like many people in 2020). But it doesn’t just change the way we consume media, Netflix has also changed the way tv shows are made. For example, if people can simply “binge watch” a season of a show in a couple days, what’s the point of cliffhangers? The build up and the anticipation has all been done away, because the next episode is simply a couple clicks away. Let’s say you’re watching a show on Netflix: the episode ends with the protagonist hanging off the edge of a cliff, oh no! Well, you’re probably not gonna be anticipating what happens to the protagonist since you don’t have to wait a week for the new season to air, you just click continue watching.

Netflix’s original programming has also been a breakthrough. Estimates by BMO Capital Markets, show that Netflix will spend up to $26 billion a year on original content by 2028. This original programming is in all genres from comedy specials to horror movies, and it’s only available on Netflix. From one of it’s first Netflix originals, House of Cards, the company's original programming has begun to dominate the entertainment award season. In 2013, House of Cards became the first original online-only (or streaming) TV series to receive major Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. And it has only gone up since. In 2020, Netflix received a record breaking 160 nominations at the Emmy Awards, winning 21. Many of the most talked about tv shows of the year were also Netflix originals, such as The Queen's Gambit (a show about a chess prodigy that ended up boosting chess set sales by almost 1000%). These strides are also evident in the movie industry as Netflix has received 189 nominations at the Academy Awards (the Oscars) and won 15. Many of the biggest movies of 2020, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Mank, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, were all Netflix originals.

Moreover, Netflix also has a unique way of showing you content since the company collects data from all your interactions with the website. This includes what you watch, when you watch, etc. This data is then used to personalize the content that you see. So if you watch a lot of horror movies and thrillers for example, you’re probably going to see more of that genre being recommended to you. While this may sound similar to a typical social media company algorithm, this is truly a game changer in the realm of streaming movies and tv shows. You are no longer tied to the traditional cable tv schedule, where certain shows are shown at a certain time, and if you don’t like it, there's not much you can do. With Netflix and other streaming platforms, you choose what you watch, when you watch it, and how fast you’d like to finish that series or movie, making cable tv practically obsolete.

But more importantly, how has the industry responded to the changes that Netflix has brought on? Well, many cable tv networks have attempted to make their own streaming services and remove their content from Netflix. For example, NBC now has their own service, Peacock, and many current and former NBC series are available to stream there. Netflix now also faces fierce competition from other streaming services other than those made by network TV. Furthermore, Hulu, HBO Max and Amazon Prime are all contributing to the dramatic decrease in viewership numbers of cable television. These streaming services’ original content is also competing with Netflix at award shows and in viewership rate. But Netflix still remains on top with an impressive 200 million subscribers across the globe.