The future of streaming and what it means to viewers

Streaming has long been hailed as a promising business because companies like Netflix can add subscribers at little extra cost. The more paying subscribers a service has, the more the company’s costs can be spread over a larger base, lowering the cost per subscriber.

But those subscribers want lots of options, and the costs of making enough programming can be enormous. As a result, a streaming service’s profitability depends in large part on how many paying subscribers are needed before those TV shows and movies become cost-effective.