The downfall of streaming services

DEXTER CRUSE Staff Writer

Over the last couple of years, streaming services have become more and more popular with more and more options available. Streaming services have a huge benefit: convenience. With a few clicks of a button, you have hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows available to you at a low monthly price.

This has almost single-handedly driven companies like Blockbuster out of business. There is no need to drive to a store and rent a movie when it is available on your TV.

But with everything, there are problems, and streaming services have plenty of them.

A huge issue with streaming services is there are way too many options available. There is Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc. All of them have shows specific to themselves with hardly any sharing services. HBO Max has the streaming rights to DC and Warner Bros. and Disney+ has the streaming rights to Star Wars and Marvel. This makes it where you have to subscribe to stream these companies’ movies.

All of these services have monthly packages for different prices. If you subscribe to multiple, the price can add up quickly.

Streaming services keep getting more and more expensive. Inflation is currently hitting hard, but the prices of these services have continued to go up for the past couple of years.

In the past five years, Netflix has increased the price of its standard plan from $10.99 per month to $15.49 per month. And in the past year, Hulu has increased the price of the ad-supported plan from $6.99 per month to $7.99 per month and the ad-free plan from $12.99 per month to $14.99 per month. In a time of saving money, people will have to cut back on streaming services.

Streaming services consist of all recorded shows and movies, nothing live. But what about the people who do want live TV?

You can also stream that with services like YouTube TV and Sling. But these are also feeling the effects of inflation. In the next month, YouTube TV is increasing its monthly price from $64.99 to $72.99. In YouTube TV’s six-year history, they have already doubled in price going from $34.99 per month in 2017, to the current $72.99 per month. There is no real “cheap” option for TV anymore. You have to keep your eyes open for deals and shop around.

We are also seeing TV series and movies coming and going with the wind. It seems like a show can never stay on one streaming service for long before it's gone. If streaming services want to make and keep loyal customers, they need to figure out a way to keep shows on their service and not remove them.

The ultimate question is what can be done to prevent these problems? There is no answer. In a perfect world, there would only be one streaming service that includes everything from all of the different services. But the sad truth is that that will probably never happen. One service for a reasonable price that includes everything you want to watch is the perfect answer.

"I have HBO, Netflix and Hulu."

- Vanessa Larson

"Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu and YouTube."

- Ron Krueger

Letter to the Editor

KAI BRITO Contributor

Have you ever needed to drop a class during your semester? Many students have before, due to schedule changes with work, a change in academic major, realizing they have a heavy course load or just unforeseen circumstances.

Dropping a course is not something that students take lightly and they must conduct their own cost-benefits analysis to determine whether it’s the right choice for them. But to add on top of the mental anguish that students face, they must also consider the financial consequences of that decision.

As it stands currently, if a student were to drop a course in the first week of the term, they would only get 80% of the tuition and fees refunded. The Madison College ruling is that you will receive an 80% refund if you drop class before 11% of the class is completed.

However, that rule is actually dictated by a state law.

Madison College is a member of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS), which is the coordinating and oversight body for Wisconsin’s 16 public, two-year technical colleges. The WTCS has specific guidelines for how refunds can be granted at its member technical colleges and those rules are published into Wisconsin State Law under the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

Under TCS 10.08(3)(c)1, “80% of program fees, material fees and out-of-state tuition if application for refund is made before or at the time 10% of the course's total hours of instruction have been completed.”

I believe that this rule needs to be changed to better accommodate the needs of students. We should have seven days after the first day of class to receive a 100% refund of tuition and fees if a class is dropped.

My ask of seven days is reasonable and fair, given that students likely haven’t even learned much content yet in the classes since the first day generally covers course guidelines and instructor expectations outlined in the syllabus.

In fact, other academic institutions in the local area have adopted similar policies compared to what I am proposing:

• UW-Madison: Classes dropped in the first or second week of the term may qualify for an adjustment of 100% of the difference between old and new rates.

• Edgewood College: Seven days plus a federal holiday in the Spring 2022 semester.

• Lakeland University: 100% refund for dropping before the start of the second week of classes.

As a community college, we must pay attention to the needs of our student community. And affordability is among the highest needs of students right now.

Editor's note: Kai Brito was recently elected to serve as Vice President of Administration and Finance for the Student Senate.

CLARION EDITORIAL BOARD 2022-2023

Lillian Coppelman EDITOR IN CHIEF

Taleise Lawrence ASSISTANT EDITOR

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Iman Alrashid COPY EDITOR

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