The death of the cinema industry

The evolution of the streaming industry + the end of theatres worldwide

Who doesn’t love the convenience of watching a movie in the comforts of their own home? Well, it’s not surprising why large streaming companies such as Netflix, Disney Plus, etc have seen an increase in subscriptions over recent years, especially since the Covid outbreak in 2019. The pandemic forced cinemas to shut down worldwide, heavily relying on the response by the streaming services to take over as people were forced to stay home.

Before lockdown, an average person would head off to their local cinema and pay $20 dollars for a ticket, depending on the movie. They may also indulge in purchasing something from the candy bar, leaving not much change from a $10 note.

It’s crazy to believe that one of the more famous streaming services being ‘Netflix’, has a total of 203.66 million subscribers worldwide as of 2021, about 6.1 million being from Australia. This number supports the reliability of the said streaming service and furthermore because this service has such a large audience the amount of support surrounding the service increases.

Data collected in July 2020, showed that 3 months after Covid-19 began, an increase in viewers for all major streaming industries. Netflix had an increase of 1,078,000, Foxtel increased by 658,000, Stan showed increases of 729,000, Disney Plus with 689,000 and finally Amazon Prime increased by 678,000. Subscription numbers have only continued to rise.

Watching newly featured films in the theatre vs video streaming services in the United States.

For most people, this recent year has been challenging as a result of the Covid-19 virus. It has caused widespread panic, economic insecurity and the many restrictions that affected people’s daily lives.

Many people, including myself, were forced to stay inside for weeks on end. With multiple lockdowns, much time was spent in isolation. It was easy to become bored. Thanks to Netflix and other streaming services, boredom became a little easier to manage with binge-watching tv shows and movies became common.

In June 2020, a study in the United States showed that 14 percent of adults (18+) strongly prefered watching a new movie in the theatre over that of streaming, with 36 percent of adults prefer to watch new releases online. Comparing the data collected from June 2020 to November 2018 prior to Covid, it showed a higher percentage of young adults preferring to watch new releases at the cinemas. This was due to the concern of infection. This is an example where streaming is better than the cinema, as it allows you to feel safe in the comforts of your own home separate from the outside world.

The film industry is decaying and suffering the impact and there needs to be a way to evolve how we watch films. Video streaming excels as it offers a variety of choice of what in what one watches. Services like Netflix and Disney Plus offer hundreds of tv shows for the viewers and with the vast amount of them, it’s hard not to find something that piques your interest. It’s important to note that with the streaming industry there’s almost a constant flow of new content such as movies and tv shows daily, so it’s unlucky that one would simply run out on something to watch.

Why pay $20 to watch a movie? It’s crazy. Instead pay the same amount for the choice from hundreds of tv shows or movies. The average cost for a subscription nowadays can range anywhere between $5 to $15 per month, depending on the streaming service you choose. The ongoing monthly fee may concern some, especially to those who are unemployed or do not have a stable income. For the time being, some streaming services, such as Netflix, offer the one account to be shared over multiple devices, meaning that is not secluded to the one person. You could say “more bang for your buck”.

For me, I believe that it’s more enjoyable watching a movie with my feet up, wearing pyjamas without care to ‘look presentable’. This can easily be avoided by watching the movie online. I’m not saying that watching movies at the cinemas is a bad thing, I’m saying that the overall experience of watching movies at home can be better. This is due to a number of reasons and at the end of the day, we watch a movie to relax. No need to worry about going out.

I believe that the world needs to move past theatres as they are dated and old fashioned. They were first introduced in June 1905. Since then, there have been no major changes. The theatre did have its place in the early years, however over time there was the introduction of television, cinema and streaming services.

Over time, the popularity of cinema has shown to have also decreased. This has been due to the introduction of internet streaming (especially streaming movies illegally). It’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t have their own personal device where they can stream videos on a variety of applications. What we watch as a consumer has evolved and people these days don’t have the same amount of spare time to head out and watch films compared to that of the past. Also streaming means you can watch in your own time, when you want. No set time. This can be supported in data from the United States from 2002 to 2019. There was a drop of around 350 million tickets sold. In more recent times (2018–2019), there has been a drop of 83 million.

If you’re someone who’s a big fan of movies, I highly recommend you invest in any streaming service as they provide many benefits compared to the traditional method of watching movies at the cinemas. Not only is it more affordable, but it’s something that can be shared and enjoyed with others. Enjoy.

- R blogs

Resources

• Statista. 2021. Topic: Netflix. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/topics/842/netflix/> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
• British GQ. 2021. Why Netflix is the death of cinema — and the saviour of film. [online] Available at: <https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/netflix-death-of-cinemas> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
• Gruenwedel, E., 2021. Netflix Australia to Top 6.1 Million Subs by Year’s End — Media Play News. [online] Mediaplaynews.com. Available at: <https://www.mediaplaynews.com/netflix-australia-to-top-6-1-million-subs-by-year-end/> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
• Statista. 2021. Theaters vs. streaming: first time movie viewing preferences in the U.S. 2020 | Statista. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/947757/theaters-streaming-watching-movies/> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
• Npr.org. 2021. NPR Cookie Consent and Choices. [online] Available at: <https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4707873> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
• Peck-Dimit, C., 2021. The end of movie theaters is near. [online] Hillsdale Collegian. Available at: <http://hillsdalecollegian.com/2021/01/the-end-of-movie-theaters-is-near/> [Accessed 27 April 2021].