Netflix was founded in 1997, emerging with less than a thousand titles available for rent. Today, it offers hundreds of thousands of movies and television shows and serves as a fierce competitor for cable television.

In fact, as online film streaming services have risen in popularity, cable subscriptions have decreased. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, cable viewers decreased by nearly 100 million while the number of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime subscribers increased substantially.

A major component of the success of online streaming is the broadened audience, because it is able to cater to more people of all backgrounds by offering numerous on-demand genres. “I love Netflix, because it has TV shows, old movies, and indie movies that aren’t really shown on TV or in theatres,” junior Alex Bosworth said.

The demise of cable only approaches quicker as online streaming services take another step toward domination by creating their own original series and films. Along with cable shows, Netflix streams their own original shows, like the Emmy award-winning comedy and drama “Orange is the New Black” and “House of Cards,” and Amazon is in the process of creating their own original feature films.

In order to stay afloat, cable companies must devise new methods of maintaining monthly subscribers. These methods include combining packages so that customers get more channels for their money. But even with the more-for-your-money gimmicks, it is difficult for cable companies to compete with the low prices of online streaming companies.

By Nurah Lambert