By Avery Ballmann | Staff Writer
Streaming services have taken over the past decade. One of the top services is Netflix — or at least it used to be.
Netflix recently raised its monthly rate on all its plans by $2. This may not sound like a large difference, but premium Netflix is not worth $20 a month for what shows and movies it has to offer.
With everyone ditching cable and shifting over to streaming services, many companies have followed Netflix’s suit and created their own content and platform. Now that users have Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and others, it shows how desperately Netflix’s content is lacking.
Over the past several years, it has slowly taken away quality TV shows like “Friends” and “That 70s Show.” Movies that are being taken off this March are “Bee Movie,” “Good Burger,” “The Hangover,” “The Karate Kid,” “Nacho Libre” and many others. The main problem I have with Netflix and its value is that it does not keep its good content for very long.
Another issue I have with this particular streaming service is that the other plans are not worth their price either, so everyone usually coughs up the money for the premium plan, which now costs $19.99 a month. A basic plan is $9.99 a month, which is affordable. However, this plan cannot be split among roommates or friends because of its limitations, which include only having one user use the account at a time. Some people could argue that splitting the premium plan isn’t much, but if the price keeps increasing little by little, eventually it won’t be affordable.
Streaming services are essential for college students since dorms are not equipped with cable. While I and other students are continually mooching off of our parents’ Netflix subscriptions, eventually us students will have to pay for this service that’s not guaranteed at a fixed rate. Netflix said on its website that all users new and old will be affected by the price change.
The only value I see in Netflix is its creative content in its original shows and movies. These are very trendy and usually get renewed for new seasons. They have a wide assortment of reality shows, dramas, thrillers and other genres. I love the Netflix originals, but Netflix should not market itself as a streaming service if it is not going to provide outside content like it once did.
As college students slowly get removed from their parents’ health care, insurance and, eventually, streaming subscription, Netflix should consider having a student discount or plan that better accommodates us.
Netflix should continue to create its original shows; however, it needs to lower the price if it is not offering as much outside content as other services.
