Are streaming platforms taking over?

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It is no secret that the interference of COVID-19 has brought about a financial decline in the entertainment industry. Musicians and artists haven’t been able to hold concerts or tour the world due to lock-down restrictions, film fanatics couldn’t go to the cinema to see upcoming blockbusters. Instead, film enthusiasts needed to use streaming sites to watch upcoming movies — or purchase their chosen movie online. All in all, the pandemic has caused a financial loss some places might never recover from.

Official statistics based in the UK, show that the number of households using Netflix at the quarter end of 2020 has reached over fifteen million (1). Also in 2020, statistics have shown forty-four million cinema admission tickets in the UK. This is a big change from the one hundred and seventy-six million admissions back in 2019 (2).

image by nti-audio.com

An average adult ticket in Odeon cinema costs as much as thirteen pounds(3) — three pounds more expensive than a standard Netflix subscription,(4) which allows you to view a lot more than just a single movie. If you add the cost of a standard cinema ticket at Odeon Cinema, plus a large coke for three pounds sixty and a regular popcorn for four pounds ninety(5), you would have paid twenty-one pounds, and that’s just for one person.

Before COVID-19 existed, that price might have seemed okay, it would be ‘doable’ for a one-off visit to the cinema. Nowadays, however, where the cost of living has risen as people try to recover from the financial blow COVID-19 dealt, twenty-one pounds seems too expensive for a one-off trip. Especially, when you can choose from hundreds of movies and television programmes for a fixed monthly subscription, which costs less than half the twenty-one pounds you would have spent on a single trip to the cinema.

Within the duration of the worldwide lockdowns, most people would turn to the television for entertainment, relying on digital content to get by. In 2020, revenue for digital media (streaming sites, DVDs, on-demand, etc.) had climbed to almost sixty-two million dollars(6). This was a thirty-one percentage increase in revenue in comparison to other years. According to forbs, “digital media had accounted to for over three-quarters of total theatrical, home/mobile entertainment revenue ” (6)

The bigger picture and do we really need cinemas?

Covid-19 has spun the world in a full three-sixty circle. We, as humans, have changed so much with our living habits, that now the world is changing with us. Five years ago, a majority of us would have preferred going to the cinema to watch movies we now have access to with the click of a button.

Whilst previously, cinemas were thought of as cool with their massive screens and incredible speakers, it’s lost its hype. Anybody could purchase a good speaker if they want that surround-sound effect, and streaming platforms allow you to project your entertainment of choice through so many kinds of screens, including big screens like in a living room.

Not only that but our society has also spent so much time stuck indoors with only the people in our households to interact with (if there is anybody else living with you), that some of us have developed Covid-related-claustrophobia (7). What this means is that you feel trapped and like you are stuck at home, and being around a group of people makes you anxious. Being in a cinema, where you’re surrounded by strangers, overwhelmed by the loud booming noises might be a little too much for some.

Streaming platforms like Netflix or Disney+(8) give you complete control over who you watch something with, in the comfort and safety of your own home. It’s a lot easier to just turn on the telly and pick a movie to watch, than it is scheduling an allocated time to head to the cinema and watch the movie.

So…have streaming platforms taken over? Maybe so.

Works cited:

Netflix image:https://unsplash.com/photos/yubCnXAA3H8

cinema image: https://www.nti-audio.com/en/applications/electroacoustic-installations/cinema

(1)https://www.statista.com/statistics/529734/netflix-households-in-the-uk/

(2)https://www.statista.com/statistics/238215/cinema-admissions-in-the-uk/

(3)https://movietheaterprecios.mx/odeon-cinema-prices/

(4)https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/netflix-guide-cost-how-to-sign-up-what-to-watch/

(5)https://www.moviefoodprices.com/odeon-food-prices/

(6)https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/04/13/the-impact-covid-19-had-on-the-entertainment-industry-in-2020/?sh=3a46f3b2250f

(7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320243/

(8)https://www.disneyplus.com