The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 4 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on December 6, 2019
By: Adam Hartzer ’23
Layout Editor
With the long-awaited arrival of Disney’s new streaming service Disney+, once-loyal users of Netflix and Hulu are quickly subscribing to the new streaming platform. Within 24 hours of its launch, Disney claimed to have received 10 million sign-ups to its new streaming platform. With this overwhelming emergence of a new major streaming service, some wonder how other streaming services are reacting and what the future of streaming will look like in a world with Disney+.
Since its release, Netflix has been the top streaming giant who not only introduced the idea of streaming in 2007 but has also remained the top service for the past decade. Even with the launch of Disney+, Netflix is remaining optimistic about the future of their streaming platform.
“For us, nothing really changes. They are great at what they do; they’re great storytellers. It is great to have competition,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos stated at a media council summit.
Yet, soon after the launch of Disney+, Netflix announced a partnership with Nickelodeon that would offer streaming availability for shows such as Victorious and a new SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off show that is exclusive to Netflix. Many speculate that this partnership emerged to combat the rising competition of Disney+, as its platform offers various shows targeted to younger audiences—many of which resonate with multiple generations.
This SpongeBob SquarePants Netflix spin-off is only one of the many shows and films that is labeled and marketed as a “Netflix original.” Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and The Umbrella Academy are a few of the most-watched fan-favorite original series available on Netflix. These original series are revolutionizing the way people watch TV and subscribe to the various streaming platforms. Similar to Netflix, Hulu offers original content to its users with top-rated series such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Castle Rock.
With Apple launching its own premium streaming service Apple TV+ at the beginning of last month and only a few days before the launch of Disney+, they too hoped to gain users by offering exclusive media content for its users. Its flagship show, The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, critiques the people who work in the media industry and the challenges they face in presenting the people with reliable news. Having these series exclusive to a particular streaming platform entices customers and encourages them to subscribe to the service’s original content. No longer are streaming platforms only offering TV series or films produced by networks that aired on traditional cable television. Instead, they are revolutionizing and redefining the way entertainment is created and distributed, by producing their own work.
As Disney+ joins the streaming game, they are creating original series of their own with the offerings of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, and Monsters at Work coming in 2020.
With the age of digital streaming growing more prominent in the media and entertainment industry, competing streaming platforms are continuously expanding the content available to users for their selection and enjoyment.
Adam Hartzer can be reached at hartzeraj@mx.lakeforest.edu
