Evolution of Cord Cutting: Digital Shifts in Daily Life


When someone "cuts the cord", they give up the traditional cable TV service and instead opt for streaming services. It is a trend that began to gain momentum in 2008 and has since covered about half the population. Cable TV is reaching a point where it might soon be extinct as an increasing number of individuals cut the cord every day.

Reasons for cord cutting

Pricing

Streaming Platforms offer very competitive monthly pricing for the value they provide. They can afford to do so because they have millions of users worldwide, while cable TV operators would be somewhat geographically restricted. In fact, you can subscribe to all the most popular streaming platforms, and it will still be cheaper than Cable TV.

Shows from around the world

While traditional cable provides limited options, you can watch most of the content from any country in the world on streaming services. This was a selling point for TV in the 90s, as people wanted to see content based on their location. But, in the age of the internet, the boundaries of countries have very little meaning, so international shows are the way to go for the majority.

Control

Streaming provides a control that cable TV lacks. For Cable TV, you have to watch your content on someone else’s schedule. The cord-cutters may watch whatever they want, whenever they want, it is totally up to them. This is another reason people are cutting the cord, as they find it better to watch an entire series in 1 day rather than wait for 1 episode every day/week.

No setup

For Cable TV, there is a lot of hardware setup required. First, you need the cable box, which has wires connecting to the TV and wires connecting it outside to the Antenna. Streaming is just about setting up your TV and connecting it to the Wi-Fi, which is infinitely easier.

No interruptions

Cable TV operators used to and still do to cut down on the prices and show ads even after asking the user to pay. This is not the case with streaming. If you’re paying for it, you do not have to bear with any interruptions at all.

Factors boosting cord cutting

Now or later, cord-cutting was bound to happen as the people's demands drastically changed. But there were a few major reasons it started so fast and is growing exponentially more.

Launching of Smart TVs

No matter the benefits, people would not have cut the cord if it was for streaming content on their phones, laptops, or desktops. The TV has an entirely different experience associated with it. Around 2008, Smart TVs such as Apple TV and Fire TV launched, and these were the first in the genre of truly smart TVs which provided the same experience for content streaming. This is why people started to cut the cords and never looked back.

Plethora of competitors

Just as there is a variety of channels you can watch on the cable TV, there is also a variety of streaming services you can subscribe to for video streaming, such as Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, Sony, etc. The competition always makes sure to get the best for every consumer.

Cloud Services keep getting better

Streaming platforms utilize the cloud to store their TV shows, and the cloud keeps getting increasingly advanced day by day. It provides secure, limitless storage at very affordable rates, which aids businesses. For their users, it also provides very fast and buffer-free access.

Conclusion

Cord Cutting provides many new benefits which more precisely fit the needs of the modern world. While cord-cutting saves you a lot of money, it is not just about the money. It is more about having control over what you want to watch and when you want to watch it, making Streaming the clear favorite. That is why many shows are also shifting towards online methods.

Updated on: 21-Nov-2022

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