As subscription prices increase, more streaming platforms entering the market, and formerly ad-free services starting to include commercials, many are experiencing a sense of viewing fatigue and, instead, an increased interest in physical media.
Still, individuals enjoy the accessibility online streaming provides. English and Theater teacher Erin Southard pays for an Amazon Prime subscription and uses it throughout her teaching.
“Through Amazon Prime, I can do a lot of add-ons,” Southard said. “I have Broadway HD, which I can use to show clips or entire shows to my class of crowd shot musicals and plays.”
Despite their usefulness, individuals, including Southard, are drained by modern streaming programs because of the vast array of choices and add-ons left for viewers to choose between. She also highlighted that past forms of entertainment TV have similarities to current show services.
“They’ve taken over the way that the media works. You get exhaustion from choice exhaustion,” Southard said. “It’s almost like a monopoly, kind of similar back to the original setting of cable.”
Due to the growing collection of shows and movies to browse, many individuals are becoming aware of how streaming platforms are contributing to shortening people’s attention spans. Freshman Nataly Haro highlighted how easy it is to switch from one movie to another.
“It’s very common for people to get bored in the middle of a movie and then quickly click off, choosing a different one, and then the same thing repeats,” Haro said.
Senior Will Powell believes TV shows produced by streaming services themselves are written while being aware of the audience’s lowered attention span and contributes to the fatigue viewers are experiencing.
“A lot of TV shows now are written with viewers who pay half their attention to another device in mind,” Powell said. “I think that this downgrade in quality of platform-original shows is killing people’s enthusiasm for streaming services in general.”
Junior Isabelle Bernstein noticed other factors that are flaws to online content platforms. She is tired of paying subscription fees year-round, only to discover certain movies requiring extra rental or purchase.
“I don’t like [how] even if you’re paying for a subscription, you still have to pay for certain movies,” Bernstein said. “It’s really frustrating. I’m already paying for this service. Why can’t I have access to everything?”
The cons are leading to individuals returning to physical media, where inserted advertisements, subscription prices and the removal of certain movies are not in effect. Junior Mikey Yuan desires to return back to DVDs and finds the importance of a physical collection.
“I would really like to go back to the old way of just buying DVDs and stuff because I feel like having a physical copy of something, that’s really important,” Yuan said.
Along with physical media, movie theaters are slowly making a quiet comeback among viewers who miss the interactive and community aspect of watching films collectively. Southard recalled the excitement of midnight premieres and the community the premieres fostered.
“I think about the final Harry Potter movie. I waited in line for hours. I got there at like 1:00 p.m. for a midnight show, and I made friends with everyone in line, and it was really fun,” Southard said. “Marvel movies, everyone cheering in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ When the portals happen, I remember that.”
Although seen as inconvenient in comparison to watching a movie at home, individuals are beginning to perceive attending a theater as a treat. Yuan mentioned that going to the movie theater is considered a special experience.
“You have to find a movie, find the time, drive there, sneak in candy,” Yuan said. “Some say it’s more inconvenient, but as a once-in-a-while thing, it’s definitely special.”
Many viewers are hoping for platforms to merge together into one subscription, ensuring that the convenience, inexpensive and flexibility aspects of online streaming remains.
“It would be nice that you just have to pay for one [subscription] because every single standard service has different types and amounts of shows and movies because certain shows are only on certain platforms,” Bernstein said.
Others interested in physical media desire for movies to be available not only through online streaming. Powell hopes for studios to release their movies on DVDs as well.
“With more demand for physical media to return, I’m hoping studios will see the benefits of releasing DVDs rather than having shows and movies exclusively on streaming services,” Powell said.