When Netflix was launched in 2007 as an online streaming service, it allowed people to watch shows and movies on their app. This idea made it convenient for people who rather not order a movie through the mail and wait, while they can browse their app, and watch hundreds of movies and shows. This idea was an instant hit for Netflix, and since then they are reportedly worth over $180 billion dollars.  

Since Netflix aired, there have been many more online streaming services similar to Netflix, such as Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus, Peacock, HBOMax, and Apple TV. They all provide different features from one another and have their own exclusive shows or movies. I asked a student from CHS, “What streaming platforms have you been watching a lot more since Covid?” Asish Tamang, a junior from CHS, says, “ I have been watching Netflix a lot more because we were stuck at home at one point.” Another junior from CHS, Jordi Lopez, also agrees with Asish. 

As more streaming services fight for your attention and money, these streaming apps have changed the entertainment industry. Every year AMC Theatre has to compete with these services and now that Covid-19 has affected AMC Theatre, they had to close many down for people’s safety. Since then streaming services have been thriving and generating more revenue than ever. Due to people being indoors more, a larger audience of people focuses on streaming services than ever before, causing harm to the theater industry. For AMC Theatre 2020 was a bad year. The “box-office ticket sales collapsed by 82% to just 224 million tickets.” The year before that, their “sales dropped 22% to 1.23 billion tickets.” Clearly, 2020 has been the worst year for AMC Theatre.

As we start 2021, we can still expect streaming services to do very well during this time. For AMC theaters they have started to open up around all the states with restricted capacity and with some protocols to ensure the safety of their customers. AMC Theatre was on the brink of bankruptcy but managed to pull through in 2020, and now they hope to start a better year off.