Netflix is destroying the last good thing about cable
Pa Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Unsurprisingly, the entertainment landscape has changed significantly over the past decade as more and more people have “cut the cord” and refused to pay for cable. One of the few reasons to continue paying for the service was access to live sports, the one segment that streaming failed to crack, but now major sports are available on streaming platforms including Paramount+, Amazon and even YouTube. Netflix destroyed the last bastion of cable television, the weekly live events, with the advent WWE Raw On January 6, with more than 6 million people around the world watching the seamless experience, the death of cable finally came.
WWE has arrived on Netflix
For nearly 30 years, professional wrestling has been one of the highest-rated programs on cable WCW Monday Nitro to WWE Rawduring the infamous Monday Night Wars era in the late ’90s, the show drew more than 13 million viewers combined each week. This is a small part Netflix subscriber base today, but in the cable universe it made them the most successful shows of the era. No cable TV currently comes close to those numbers, even WWE Raw managing roughly 2.2-3 million on a good week, but even that was enough to make it one of the top three rated cable shows each week.
Netflix and TKO, WWE’s new parent company, reported that even on streaming service, WWE Raw drew the best number in years on the USA network: 4.9 million viewers. Once that number was announced and the success of Netflix’s move reached investors, it became clear that cable TV had nothing left to attract studios, viewers, or even advertisers. Live events were the last thing that kept the dying industry afloat, and what will the cable companies do after they drop their rates and charge — the obvious solution — never going to happen?
The live events were all cable
The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight on Netflix earlier in 2024 was a disaster that gave cable companies hope that WWE’s move to streaming wouldn’t work. Buffering issues made one of the worst boxing matches in history unbearable WWE Raw launched with a level of pomp and circumstance unmatched by any other organization, there were no problems. I watched from start to finish and never had a problem with my stream.
Hardly anything WWE Raw will draw the same level of viewership for the next few weeks as the big debut was expected to bring in new fans, but we’re starting on the road to WrestleMania, which historically is when the company heats up. At the same time, the NFL playoffs begin and each week several games will be available to stream: Paramount+, Amazon Prime or YouTube television. It’s several live events each week that have broken free from traditional television, and on Thanksgiving, Netflix successfully showed an NFL game, proving that it can do everything cable can do, but for less.
Why even keep the cable?
There are very few major shows that are exclusive to cable, and even the most successful shows are available on streamers when they debut or soon after. Netflix’s ability to premiere movies and shows of any genre, including disappointing ones Atlas starring jennifer lopez or a hit Rebel ridgeand have more viewers in one day than such cable hits Shogun lifetime earnings are simply unmatched. even then Shogun was available on Hulu with a live tv app, so if that’s an option, and now wrestling, the last fandom stuck on cable has made the leap, why sign up for cable at all?
This is a question that more and more people will be asking themselves, especially with the arrival of AEW Maxif you have Netflix and even one additional streaming service, what does cable offer? You can enjoy countless replays Absurdityincluding episodes not on Paramount+, and can spend hours browsing channels to find something to watch or watch one of the countless streaming services available.
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