#2 - Programming Trends
Programming Trends
I remember a time when I was a kid watching cable television on the family TV in the living room, today this seems like a distant concept. Today programming is primarily dominated by streaming services, which has almost replaced cable entirely. Slowly overtime with the development of computers and especially smart phones, consuming media and entertainment like movies and television has become more accessible than ever.
The death of cable is a sacrifice in the continuing climb of consuming media and the rise of streaming services. Between 2014 and 2023, cable subscriptions dropped from 100 million households to 75 million, but why the change? The reality is customers would rather take the more convenient and cheaper option of streaming services instead of paying the more expensive cable bundles. Even my family in recent years has switched to the streaming service of YouTube TV to watch their television. Streaming services have become the new norm in 2026, almost everyone has access to one, whether it be Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon Prime. While streaming services are the cheaper option, the options themselves are limited in the grand scheme. What is on one service won’t be on another, this encourages a consumer to pay for multiple subscriptions to watch all their favorite movies or shows.
The rise in streaming services has also given rise to what's known as the limited series. Limited series is a short series that is one season with between 4-10 episodes that tell a single story through its season. Netflix is a streaming famous for its limited series’, with many shows coming and going during its time. This also gives rise to the debate among many about the state of show quality in this era of streaming services. On average it usually takes a new season of an ongoing show 3 years at the least to release, which frustrates many viewers. A prime example of this is with the hit show Stranger Things. The show’s final season released at the end of 2025 in December, with its previous season releasing in 2022, this leaves fans wondering what took so long. Luckily, Stranger Things is a cultural phenomenon and fans still remained excited and seated during its release, but other shows are not so lucky.
One final thing that I think has made it into the argument of programming trends is social media. With apps like YouTube and TikTok holding so much influence and viewership in culture and the media, its impossible to not mention it. Many people are not interested in Television or movies but still use social media everyday, this still allows viewers to experience these forms of media without ever even watching the show. The algorithm and “staying in the loop” is a powerful thing and with social media its easy to do.
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