It is no secret that Netflix is a mammoth of the streaming industry. 

With an ever-growing base of subscribers and a seemingly endless catalog of content, Netflix has come to dominate the TV and movie scene in the modern age. As the streaming giant adds Netflix originals to it already massive supply of films and shows, Netflix is not only leading the entertainment industry, but changing it as well, both for better, and for worse. 

One of the biggest, and probably more positive, effects Netflix has had on modern entertainment is in how it has changed the TV industry. Before Netflix, most shows followed a basic formula of introducing a conflict and then instantly resolving it within 30 minutes. Shows, especially sit-coms, would never really grow throughout their series run. Sure, there would be some overarching love story to keep viewers invested, but for the most part the story and the characters would stay stagnant. 

Nowadays, with the ability to stream an entire series in a week and lovingly waste time binge-watching episode after episode, TV shows are becoming more complex and serialized. Characters can grow and change, and problems can take multiple episodes to resolve themselves. Because Netflix allows us to pick up right where we left off, shows no longer need to make sure that anyone can jump into an episode and understand what is going on even though they missed last week’s. 

Although the streaming industry is benefitting TV, the same cannot be said for movies. Whenever Netflix invests in creating an original film to be released into their catalog, they prohibit the movie from appearing in theaters beforehand. Other streaming platforms such as Amazon allow their sponsored films to be released in cinemas first, and at home second, but Netflix has yet to allow any of their original movies to grace the big screen.

As Netflix continues to grow larger, this could eventually spell trouble for theaters who are trying to get movie-goers off of their couch and into the audience. 

Whether or not you think Netflix’s changes to the industry are helping or harming today’s entertainment, one thing is for certain: Netflix is growing and the industry is changing.