Approximately 8000 U.S. households had television sets in 1946, and almost 45.7 million had them by 1960, showing the exponential growth in consumer products like televisions. However, with the rise of streaming services, how has traditional cable TV dropped?
According to consumerreports.org, there was a 33% drop in traditional cable television’s share of United States television viewing between May of 2021 at around 39% and October of 2024 at a staggering 26%.
Almost a century after the first televisions were invented, technology has skyrocketed. There are simply no black and white TV’s in any American homes, meaning that traditional cable TV has declined as well.
“As a kid, I used to wait every day until 6 p.m. to watch We Bare Bears, but now I can just watch the whole show in one sitting on a streaming service,” said freshman Evan Sam.
The main reason for cable TV’s decline is that variety is limited. With a streaming service like Netflix, you can watch any show in the world, while with cable TV, you have to wait until that show is broadcasted on a particular channel. That being said, cable TV also has more localized viewing, so people who want to watch news or sports in other locations or countries may have a harder time finding cable enjoyable. Viewers pay a monthly fee and can watch any show and movie they want on their own time, instead of waiting for a broadcasting schedule on cable TV.
A famous TV channel, the Cartoon Network, has just been sold to another streaming service, MAX. Cartoon Network, for example, was owned by movies and TV shows tech giant Warner Bros. However, it was sold by them in August to a streaming service MAX, once again showcasing why cable TV is slowly dying, and streaming services have risen.
“My family still has cable TV, but I think using Netflix is easier as it has more things to choose from,” said freshman Steven Quevedo.
“My Dad is old-fashioned, and he still switches channel to channel on the TV, but I enjoy using Netflix more. In my opinion, it is just a preference,” said freshman Aidan Liu.
Cable TV declining has just been yet another instance of technology taking over older innovations. As we grow as a society, it is imperative for newer generations to overtake the old technology. However, this does not mean we can take them for granted as without cable TV, most of the streaming services would not have been invented at all.
