Companies create streaming platforms

More stories from Madison Ybay

Netflix is a popular streaming service that has many shows and movies for people to binge-watch over and over again on their devices.

“As the streaming wars begin, more and more companies will be joining the race which will increase the number of shows and movies pulled off of Netflix,” Business Insider said.

However at the end of 2018, rumors had been going around that popular shows like “The Office” and “Friends” would be pulled off of Netflix. In the summer of 2019 many companies such as HBO, Disney and NBC had confirmed that their shows and movies would be removed from Netflix in 2020 because they are starting their own streaming services.

“The One Where We Have To Say Goodbye. We’re sorry to see Friends go to Warner’s streaming service at the beginning of 2020. Thanks for the memories, gang,” Netflix said.

Disney Plus is the streaming service that was created by Disney and will be up and running November 12, 2019. For $7 per month, users can watch Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, National Geographic and Disney content.

“Netflix paid up to $100 million to keep ‘Friends’ which is much more than the $30 million it was previously paying per year for the series rights. WarnerMedia paid $425 million for the rights to ‘Friends,’” The Hollywood Reporter said.

HBO now will be taking “Friends” on it’s new platform called HBO Max. “The Office” will also be leaving Netflix to be on NBCUniversal. Both of these shows, according to Jumpshot, “The Office” and “Friends” were Netflix’s top most popular shows in 2018.

“‘The Office’ had 7.2% of total episode views across the platform and ‘Friends’ had 4.2% which makes them the most frequently viewed shows on Netflix,” Insider Incorporated said.

This caused a lot of uproar from, not only fans of “The Office” and “Friends,” but Netflix users alike. HBO Max will be $15 a month and NBCUniversal’s new Peacock service will be around $13 a month. Now fans of both shows will need to pay almost $30 a month to watch both shows.

“These services have plenty of benefits no more cable fees and no more contracts. But the savings can be outweighed by other downsides such as internet fees, DVR restrictions, buffering and a lack of things to watch, especially live sports. Just like cable TV, the costs of these services just keep going up,” Computer Network said.

Many households have already begun going wireless and sticking to streaming devices such as Netflix and Hulu.

However, for many people who watch shows and movies that are being transferred, having all of these new platforms adds $35 to their bills each month, or $420 a year, which caused people to be upset since previously these shows and movies were all on one platform, Netflix. However, viewers have until 2020 to enjoy these shows still on Netflix.

“While streaming is undoubtedly the future, it will be some time before both prices and the services offered settle in,” CN said.