Danielle Mason

English 137H
Dr. Kate Rosenberg
November 19, 2015
The Netflix Conundrum
Scheduling the week around favorite shows that only air on certain dates and at certain
times is no longer necessary. Nowadays, those shows can be found on the WatchABC app, Hulu,
Amazon.com, and Netflix at any time that is convenient. Society has shifted from watching
single episodes of programs weekly on the television set to watching multiple episodes of shows
at unscheduled times on video on-demand (VOD) companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.
There are many articles and journals that comment on this shift. Anirban Mahanti,
principle researcher at NICTA, describes that many viewers are cutting the cord to cable
television, by opting instead to watch their favorite shows and movies on-demand from
streaming services such as Netflix (Mahanti 1). Statistics shows that the amount of time
watching live television is decreasing, while the amount of time on the internet streaming
television is increasing. According to the Nielsen Study taken in the fourth quarter of 2014, the
average time adults spend watching live TV is down 13 minutes a day, and the amount of time
spent on the internet on a PC is up 5 minutes a day, and the amount of time spent on the internet
on a mobile device is up 17 minutes a day compared to the fourth quarter in 2013 (Leopold). The
decreasing amount of live TV watched is said to be due to the on-demand companies.
This shift has been identified enough so that it is considered the start of a new era. Since
the beginning of time, television has been characterized into three subgroups, but now scholars
are debating on adding a fourth subdivision. The first era of television (TVI) consists of the time

of television scarcity (Mareike 2). This marks the beginning of television, the mid-1950s to the
early 1980s, when there was a large audience and three main networks that ruled the air (Mareike
2). The next division of television (TVII) is characterized by channel expansion, higher quality
television, and new network branding strategies (Mareike 2). The duration of this era is from the
early 1980s to the late 1990s. The third television era (TVIII) is characterized by the production
of digital distribution forms, fragmentation of audiences, and a shift in commodity relations
(Mareike 2). Video on-demand companies, especially Netflix, have intellectuals considering a
fourth division called TVIV, due to the move away from the television set (Mareike 2). VOD
companies are not only producing digital media already shown on television, but also producing
original shows that are only available online such as Orange is the New Black, which is
exclusively on Netflix. This has never been seen before and therefore qualifies for new
classification.
This is the first time in history that full original shows are exclusively on the internet and
have a large audience. In order for this shift to happen, technology advances had to occur so
millions of people who are geographically dispersed could access high quality videos. Netflix
has 60 million viewers with 20 million of those viewers being outside the United States
(overview). So what technology made this possible? The technology used to achieve this feat
is a combination of owner data centers, cloud services, and content delivery networks (CDNs)
(Mahanti 6). These services allow fast high quality streaming which is essential for the VOD
companies to thrive. Since the high demand on internet streaming of videos, there has become a
high demand in mobile data streaming. If you recall back to the first smart phones, videos
seemed to take hours to load, and then halfway through the streaming, the dreaded loading
sign would appear. To avoid this issue, the LTE 4th generation radio technology was invented,

improving spectral efficiency and enabling higher data rates (Mahanti 6). Now millions of
people can watch full movies or multiple shows on their mobile devices without being
interrupted.
Even internet protocol has changed so videos on-demand are more accessible. The goal
of new internet protocol (IPv6) is to guarantee the smooth operation, scalability and
performance of the Internet (Papagiannidis 513). The 6th version of Internet Protocol (IPv6)
includes an IPTv subdivision. This includes the protocol for projecting TV shows through the
internet (Papagiannidis 516). Its goal is to make television on the internet instantly available to
hundreds of millions of internet viewers worldwide (Papagiannidis 216). All these technological
advances set the stage for a drastic change in how TV shows are watched; however there are
many factors for why society has changed its mindset in this way.
The first reason is accessibility. Today people have the ability to multitask and be more
productive than they ever have in the past. Therefore, the fact that Netflix is available anytime,
anywhere is a great selling point, compared to a single show that only airs at a certain time. Also,
if a season no longer airs on television, Netflix makes it accessible to anyone who still wants to
watch it. In the article, To binge or not to binge? More people are watching TV series in big
chunks, a man named Chad Hunter was interviewed described his opinion on binge watching.
He said, Times have change. I think that is a symptom of our convenience culture. People have
busy schedules, busy lives. They might only have one night every few weeks where they have a
bunch of time and love a particular show and want to dive in. I think its great. I do not see a
particular downside to it (Machosky 2). This describes how Netflixs availability fits so
conveniently in the culture that it is so hard not use.

Another reason customers have switched to VOD companies instead of TV is because

VOD companies are cheaper than paying for cable. For example, Netflix costs from $7.99 up to
$11.99 a month compared to cable which can cost from $25.00 up to $150.00 a month
("Overview"). If all a customers favorite shows are on Netflix, there is no reason to have cable.
There is also a social benefit to watching Netflix. Some shows are very popular, so a
multitude of people have seen them. It is so easy to walk with someone and ask them what their
favorite TV show is. Sometimes, it is the same as yours and it is a bonding experience. Just as
books, music, and sports have brought many different people together in the past, Netflix does
the same by giving people conversation starters and bonding experiences. It is just as satisfying
to find someone who likes the same music, book, or sports team as it is to find someone who
likes the same television show.
Another reason for this change is the ability to binge-watch. Binge-watching is defined as
the act of watching three or more episodes of a television show in one sitting, and is the new
guilty pleasure for leisure time (Mahanti 1). According to a Digital Democracy Survey taken by
Deloitte LLP, an advertising company, 68% of American consumers, ages fourteen or older, state
that they have binge-watched a show at some point on a video on-demand company and 31% of
consumers say they binge-watch once a week (Machosky 1). This type of viewing is popular and
beneficial, because it allows the viewer to read the whole book. Many episodes of television
shows, especially drama, end with cliff-hangers. Fans watching live TV have to wait until next
week to watch the next episode and figure out what happens next, but binge-watchers can just
click the next episode, just like reading the next chapter or series of a book. Additionally, this
type of watching allows an escape from the stress of real life, just as a book does. It allows the

viewer to immerse herself in a new world, whether that be the intense court room, as in Law and
Order, or a dramatic high school, as in One Tree Hill or Gossip Girl.
This type of viewing is infamous for unproductivity. It is often considered a waste of
time. However, the more consumers watch shows, the better television shows will be. The higher
the demand, the more producers, and the higher competition which ultimately produces better
shows. This has led to a term called the New Golden Age of Television. This term is defined as
the period of great innovation and diversity in television from the year 2000 to the present, which
is caused by increase in technology, demand, variety, and volume of television shows being
produced (Moraski). Along with more creativity, there is more individualization. Viewers are in
charge of what they want to watch. Almost every type of show is in the market. Additionally,
there is the possibility that shows could have multiple endings and fans can pick which version
they want to watch (Mahanti 3). Netflix gives the consumers more of what they want, when they
want it.
Where does this lead society? There will be more shows, more variety, more
personalization, and more accessibility, but does that mean more obesity? Or does it mean more
intellectual capacity? Many studies have shown that regular television-watching is linked to
obesity. One study was performed by the Nurses Health Study, which followed more than
50,000 middle-age women for six years. The study found that for every two hours the women
spent watching television each day, the women had a 23 percent higher risk of becoming obese
and a 14 percent higher risk of developing diabetes (Television Watching and Sit Time). Is it
the same for watching television shows online? There is less research on internet TV watching,
but one study of 2,650 adults living in Adelaide, Australia found that participants with a high
amount of leisure time on the Internet and computer were 1.46 times more likely to be

overweight and 2.52 times more likely to be obese, compared to those who reported no Internet
and computer use in their leisure time (Vandelanotte).
To conclude, our society has always had a need for more. Human civilization switched
from a hunting and gathering society to a farming society because of the need for more food.
Then, the cultural trend switched from farming to urbanization, because even more goods were
needed. Today, society calls for more television. This leads to more variety, more economically
friendly options, more personalization, and more accessibility. Which has caused a paradigm
shift from watching television show episodes individually and weekly on live television to
watching shows in multiples at unscheduled times through Videos on Demand companies, such
as Netflix. This could have many implications on todays society, but most prominently it could
add to the current obesity endemic.

Works Cited
Leopold, Todd. "The New, New TV Golden Age - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 06
May 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

Machosky, Michael. "To binge or not to binge? More people are watching TV series in big
chunks." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review [Pittsburgh, PA] 28 Apr. 2015. Opposing Viewpoints
in Context. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Mahanti, Anirban. "The Evolving Streaming Media Landscape." IEEE Internet Computing 18.1
(2014): 4-6. Web.

Mareike, Jenner. "Is this TVIV? On Netflix, TVIII and Binge-Watching." New Media & Society
(2014). 1-17. Web.

"Overview." Company Profile. Netflix. 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Papagiannidis, Savvas. "Well beyond Streaming Video: IPv6 and the next Generation
Television." ResearchGate. Elservier, 2006. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

"Television Watching and Sit Time." Obesity Prevention Source. Harvard T.H.: Chan School of
Public Health, 20 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

Vandelanotte, Corneel, Takemi Sugiyama, Paul Gardiner, and Neville Owen. "Associations of
Leisure-Time Internet and Computer Use with Overweight and Obesity, Physical Activity
and Sedentary Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Study." Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Gunther Eysenbach, 29 July 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.