# [[Streaming is the new Cable, more elegantly commoditized]] ###### October 25, 2024 As we know by now, [[Hollywood is dead, but it may yet be reborn|the big boom in the premium video sector is over]] and the big studios are cutting budgets on streaming production just as they did for cinema. BUT there still is hype happening in the streaming segment, even though its limited on a certain demographic: Boomers have discovered the streaming segment and are since May 2024 the largest demographic consuming streaming content.[^1] Despite the financial tensions in the industry, this drives the popularity of the streaming medium, which is currently at the top of video market share.[^2] It is not long ago that Streaming used to be the new hot medium, but this seems to be shifting. Alongside with viewerships getting older, big content producers are cutting down on the investment in original content ,[^3] which often used to be the most progressive content on the platforms. For the remaining original content, they seem to refocus on new target groups located in more rural areas,[^4] which happen to be the more elderly and more conservative areas in any country. The combination of cost cutting, less progressive content and an aging target group has led to the obvious take that Streaming just might "become the new Cable TV". I think what is happening here is quite interesting: a not-long-ago upcoming exciting medium currently seems to loose cultural momentum and is being pulled down to the receding slope of the hype cycle. The tide shift itself, maybe counterintuitively is not marked by a big bang, but by a frustrating stagnation, which is felt everywhere in the industry. Changes are coming, but as often this is happening [[Everything is forever until it is no more|gradually, then suddenly]]. What I do not subscribe to is the implication of "Streaming is the new Cable TV", in the sense that things are going back to a past state. Even though I appreciate cyclic time models, I think there is a kind of lazy thinking here that is not helpful. Future developments mirror things from the past, often because certain boundary conditions persist over time and require similar solutions again and again. But change is happening no matter what and it seems likely that the most important things are being overlooked, when approached with the expectation that everything will repeat eventually. What might make this new iteration of Grandmas television different to the old one? It seems a main driver bringing the older demographic to Streaming are actually SmartTVs, reducing the barrier of entry by offering more convenient apps for all streaming platforms.[^5] But looking deeper, there seems to be more than just a motivation for making content consumption more TV-like. Walmart has even bought a SmartTV manufacturer[^6] and seems to be considering getting its own Streaming service.[^7] While Netflix & Co. already went heavily into advertising on their platforms (with limited success as far as I know), SmartTVs seem to offer a whole new layer of advertisement on the device level itself, set on top of the programming. It is not hard to imagine that coming SmartTVs will do a lot to infuse advertisement suited both to the streamed content AND to the consuming audience, probably generated in real-time. Imagining a grandparents home with a television running all of the time will feel familiar in the near future, but it will also be something very different. Advertisement and content will probably be much harder to tell apart, because it is perfectly adapted both to whats happening behind and in front of the screen. Its a consumerist future that is more convenient and more entertaining, but it is also more elegantly commoditized and likely harder to escape than it has ever been. [^1]: [Viewers Age 50 And Older Are Streaming More TV Than Any Other Demographic [Report] | Decider](https://decider.com/2022/07/13/older-viewers-streaming-most-tv/) [^2]: [Streaming has surpassed cable as America's most-watched viewing platform](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/streaming-surpassed-cable-americas-watched-viewing-platform-rcna95313) [^3]: [Netflix's Licensing Surge: Resuming Role as Hollywood's Content Aggregator » FilmTake](https://www.filmtake.com/distribution/netflix-reverses-course-to-reembrace-third-party-content-licensing/) [^4]: *“A shift in programming at Amazon, at least in the US, where it has gone from targeting coastal viewers to those in the middle of the country. It is a paint-by-numbers thriller that has received little affection from critics.”* [Streaming Is Starting to Look A Lot Like Cable TV - Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-14/streaming-is-starting-to-look-a-lot-like-cable-tv) [^5]: *"According to WSJ, the influx of older streamers is in part because streaming is so much more accessible now than it used to be. Analyst and researcher Minal Modha, who works for London’s Ampere Analysis firm, told the outlet that older audiences have more ways to stream now, thanks to devices like smart TVs."* [Viewers Age 50 And Older Are Streaming More TV Than Any Other Demographic [Report] | Decider](https://decider.com/2022/07/13/older-viewers-streaming-most-tv/) [^6]: *"Vizio TVs are going to have tons of ads on them. You’ll open up your home screen to find Netflix or YouTube and an ad for a deal on tires at the Walmart auto center waiting for you. Lovely."* [The Golden Age of TV isn’t just over — it’s imploding | Digital Trends](https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/the-streaming-tv-bubble-is-about-to-burst/) [^7]: [Streaming Is Starting to Look A Lot Like Cable TV - Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-14/streaming-is-starting-to-look-a-lot-like-cable-tv)