Netflix and premium cable TV are becoming the most important alternative to traditional cable TV services. Every other household has access to Netflix and the number of people subscribing to premium subscription services is increasing.
The reason for the popularity of Netflix and premium subscription programs is because they offer a cheaper alternative to cable television. They are cheaper because they don’t have the same standard coverage that traditional cable service providers do. Most people who live in the US have access to Netflix or one of its pay services, so they are rarely cut off from it. With premium subscriptions the company makes money by charging users to access its website, but it’s still cheaper than watching any kind of TV without paying a subscription fee.
A great example of this is HBO. Most people know it as the premium subscription television service for movies and TV shows. But when HBO was first introduced, people started to realize that they could get access to lots of their old movies and TV shows with the premium service.
Netflix and premium subscription services are sometimes considered to be more the same than different. For example, there are some premium subscription services that don’t actually carry every show or movie that is available on Netflix. The biggest one right now is Showtime. Showtime isn’t available on the basic Netflix app, but it does provide access to Showtime programming via an HBO GO subscription.
It’s no surprise that the subscription to a premium subscription service is cheaper than watching HBO on Netflix. The most expensive HBO subscriptions include access to the entire series of “Dexter”The Sopranos”. They don’t, however, include access to pay-per-view channels, so these two shows may not be available to subscribers. The most expensive Showtime subscription is $500 per year.
Pay-per-view is available on HBO, Showtime, and even on Netflix if you watch an ad before your chosen movie. Some people might consider paying a subscription fee just to watch the movie in their own home, but in general people are looking for a cheaper alternative to cable television and its attendant fees.
With the rise of premium subscription services, the idea of watching on free premium sites like Hulu, Amazon, and others, are being eliminated. Since so many people have access to the websites, it’s becoming difficult to run a free service. As we move forward, that will continue to happen, but people who want to watch it on these free sites should expect that they will continue to exist.
People who don’t need HBO on their cable TV already subscribe to Netflix and premium subscription services, and these are the people who might be interested in the premium service. These people will still have access to HBO by paying for premium service subscription but will only have access to a fraction of the content that HBO offers.
