Amanda Yarger
Reporter
The instant media streaming service Netflix shocked analysts when it released its fourth quarter report this week.
The company showed 72 cents per share profits in their official report- almost 20 cents per share higher than the highest predictions made by polled analysts, according to a Bloomberg report.
Pedro M. Rosas, graduate student in communication studies with a focus in film and digital media, said traditional media services have already been forced to embrace the instant streaming model.
“People aren’t watching television on their televisions anymore,” he said. “It’s a very dwindling number, for lack of a better word. It’s an evolution. It’s at a point where everyone needs to adapt to the new media and technology.”
With a business model of a relatively cheap monthly subscription to countless popular shows and movies, Netflix and other instant streaming services, such as Hulu and Amazon Instant Video, are rivaling traditional cable providers for price and convenience.
“If you take a step back and say, ‘Is internet video going to be in every home in America in ten years?’ that’s a pretty clear yes,” Reed Hastings, CEO and co-founder of Netflix, said in a live press video interview held on Tuesday.
Many students opt out of traditional cable services and instead primarily use instant streaming sites. This decision can save money, but may hinder access to non-live stream media.
Students who live in apartments that provide a basic cable service have the option to purchase more channels.
Plano senior Laura Cade lives in an apartment that supplies basic cable, but chose to buy supplementary channels. In addition, she also has a Netflix subscription that allows her more flexibility with her media consumption.
“If I want to stop right in the middle of a show I can,” she said. “I can leave and come back to it.”
Netflix said in a recent statement that they plan to expand abroad, and are planning to soon stream the controversial movie “The Interview.”
