Everyone has had that feeling of missing a show like “The Walking Dead” or “Pretty Little Liars” because of last minute homework or a family event that was scheduled the day of. Fortunately for senior Rachel Anderson, she can sit down anytime she wants with her friends and catch up on her favorite shows with Netflix.
“I started to use Netflix when I wanted to be in control of what I wanted to watch,” Anderson said. “I did not have to wait for shows or movies to play on normal TV, and I also use it to catch up on TV series.”
Since the introduction of streaming, the popularity of Netflix has jumped. The number of people using the streaming service has increased to 30 million, while their physical DVD rental service has taken a hit in sales, with around only seven million users. Some say that although they are having great success with their new streaming program, it is killing the original starting idea.
As far as cost of these programs, the price increases with more features. For those who want the streaming service or just the DVD service, it is $7.99 a month. Both services, it is a total cost of $15.98 a month.
Netflix also holds another sort of appeal for people, hosting individual episodes and entire seasons that are available only through Netflix streaming and do not air on regular TV. Some of these shows are “House of Cards,” “Lilyhammer,” and the fourth season of “Arrested Development.”
Netflix streaming is getting more attention from companies like Pixar, who are producing a mini series based off of the movie, “Turbo” available only on Netflix.
For some people, the streaming program itself has taken over cable TV as it is available for viewing at any time.
“I feel like I use it a lot more than my TV, depending on whether I’m watching a TV series or not,” senior Addison Ransom said. “I don’t think that it will take over regular TV for everyone because there is such a long delay between when a show airs and when it streams online.”
Netflix has modified its original policy on sharing subscriptions. There was a loophole in the first instance of the policy, stating that viewers may instantly watch on up to six unique authorized Netflix ready devices. Users were allowed to instantly watch simultaneously on two such devices at any given time. Netflix was aware that the service was being taken advantage of, so they changed their policy and now up to five people can set up their own profiles on a single account
“I think it is a good thing that you can use one account on more than one device because you get more for your money,” Anderson said. “I think it is smart of them to change the policy because more people will use Netflix if they share. I am especially happy with this because my friend has an account shared with me.”