Netflix and Hulu didn’t just change television. They flipped the entire entertainment world on its head. But there’s a reality to it that nobody wants to say out loud.
Go back to the 1970s for a second. There were only a handful of channels. What was on was what you got. If your show came on at 8, you’d better be sitting there at 8, or you’d miss it. That was it. No pause. No rewind. No “I’ll catch it later.”
The VCR helped a little, especially once it could be programmed. That was a game-changer at the time. But it still wasn’t perfect. You had to plan ahead, and if you messed it up, you were out of luck.
Reruns helped too, but not every show got one. If you watched something no one else liked, you just had to live with it. Missing an episode ruined your day.
Hulu and Netflix
Fast forward to now. Platforms like Netflix and Hulu made it feel like we finally figured it out. Did you miss a show years ago? It’s probably there. Want to binge an entire season in one night? Go ahead.
On top of that, they started creating original content that rivaled anything on traditional television. Suddenly, people weren’t waiting for shows anymore. They were watching on their own time. That’s when “cutting the cable” became the move.
At first, it felt cheaper. Ten bucks here. Ten bucks there. No contracts. No cable company breathing down your neck. But then the list started growing to Disney+, Amazon Prime, Max, Peacock, Paramount+, YouTube, Starz, and the list keeps going.
Each one has something you want. Not everything. Just enough to make you say, “Alright, I need this one too.” That’s when the math starts getting ugly. Now you’ve got multiple subscriptions because your shows are scattered everywhere.
One show on Netflix. Another on Hulu. Something else on Max. The kids want Disney. You heard Peacock has something worth watching. It adds up fast.
Not because you’re watching everything. Nobody has time for that. It adds up because everything you want is split across different platforms. So now you’re juggling subscriptions just to keep up.
And Then Comes the Fine Print
You open Amazon Prime Video, thinking you’re covered. You’re not. You find something you want to watch, and suddenly it’s an extra $3.99. Wait, what?
You’re already paying for the subscription, but now you’ve got to pay more? And it’s not just them. Other platforms play the same game in different ways. Limited tiers. Locked content. Upgrades that suddenly feel necessary.
You thought you were paying for access. Turns out you were paying for the chance to pay more. It’s frustrating paying for a subscription and seeing little locks on most of the things you want to watch.
But bundles are the solution to all that, right? Now they’re grouping platforms together and offering one price for all of them. If that sounds familiar, it really should.
That was television before all this chaos started. We were already there! Streaming didn’t replace cable. It just rebuilt it.
Same idea. Different name. More apps. Same thing.
We wanted freedom, and we thought we were getting it. But they had a whole different plan in mind. One that came from the business strategies of companies like Microsoft and Apple. Let the customers think that what they’re paying for is what they’re getting. Don’t let them know the truth until after they cough up their money.
Microsoft was rolling out a Windows version with the next one already waiting in line. Apple puts out iPhones with a better model already in the works. It’s a business model that is all over the internet, and that means Streaming platforms were way ahead of our wallets.