Students share thoughts on HBO’s cancellation spree
After HBO announced they would remove 36 shows from their catalog, students share their thoughts on another streaming service changing content lineup.
This continues as platforms further condense and segment under their own services rather than using third-party vendors like Netflix or Hulu.
“I think there’s too many streaming services,” senior Natalia Miranda said. “The only reason there’s so many is because all these different companies want to make money.”
Senior Aaron Cuppett said having too many services could lead to having to pay for something that isn’t used.
“If you have Disney+, and you’re into Disney movies, that’s great,” Cuppett said. “But if you have something like ESPN Plus, and you don’t watch sports at all, you’re just paying for something you never use.”
According to Miranda, the abundance of streaming services also exposes the excessive need for profit and disregard for the efforts of creators.
“Companies like Warner and any streaming service have been prioritizing money over their creative shows or any ideas, or the lives of their actors, or what they want, or what they’re passionate about,” Miranda said. “But it’s just been money instead of the creative process recently.”
Cuppett said while people may be discontent with the decisions of the higher-ups, everyone would make similar decisions in their position.
“If you’re, say the executive, you’ve got to make the decisions, and most of it is money-based and financial thinking, and so they’ve got to save money somewhere, and cutting shows is how they do that,” Cuppett said. “You’re running the company, you want to do what’s best for the company, and keeping shows may not be that.”
Junior Hayden Wokaly said being rented on YouTube could become a more viable option for watching movies if other streaming services continue their cancellations.
“YouTube [is a] big streaming service,” Wokaly said. “What does a big streaming service do? Buy movies, so that it itself can release them for free and make a profit.”
According to Wokaly, the ongoing cancellations of shows result in the waning reliability of the services, and a rise in piracy is likely.
“So, in my opinion, it is a little discouraging, but no matter what you do it’s not going to stop,” Wokaly said. “People are going to pirate if they want their shows back, they’re going to find ways to get it in outsourcing.”
As HBO continues to cease production of multiple projects, consumers may be forced to take matters into their own hands if they want to keep watching their favorite shows.
