I love the arguments that Streaming services have become as bad as cable used to be. It shows that we are now so far removed from that era that we don't even accurately remember all of the pains. There is no point in pretending that streaming isn't growing more expensive and less expansive. But, we are still a far cry from returning to that hellscape known as "Cable Packages".
Up first is cost. As a Canadian, I realize that others in the US, or even Canadians in more or less populated areas may have different experiences. But, the last time I had cable was over 10 years ago. Basic cable, after taxes cost me $60. This is because I needed to for the terminal, the services and various other charges.
For this price, I watched Jeopardy! and the news on a daily basis. There were some utter crap sitcoms that came on once in a while. And I think once a week I could watch The Big Bang Theory. For SIXTY. F***ING. DOLLARS!
Let that sink in. Channels are also a tad regional and people's tastes are different. So, I'm sure some people got more value than me out of it. But, I highly doubt many got MUCH more value out of basic cable. And for that I can pay for 3-4 streaming services (or more) at today's prices. And I would sure as hell have access to a LOT more for that money.
And basic cable was just the cover charge. You needed AT LEAST basic cable to buy any other channels or packages. But, all the best channels were locked in bundles and some of those bundles actually required even higher tiers of cable packages. At Roger's here in Canada I remember wanting to watch Myth Busters. But, Discover channel on Rogers was locked in a larger package, I can't remember the exact price, so I'll say $15. But, I needed to be on a more expensive plan for that to be an option. A plan which cost $30 more. So, all told, to get 1 channel which had exactly one show that I wanted to watch would have cost me $105.
As far as I am concerned, that is $105/month to get the equivalent of LESS than one modern streaming subscription. Yes, technically, I get a SHITLOAD of content for that price. But I didn't WANT any of the other crap that came with it. And there was no way to remove it.
Now, if you are still convinced that streaming is somehow as bad or worse than cable, you've missed another factor here. Inflation. Today, the smallest TV package I can get from Rogers starts at $110 and is literally just basic cable. The barrier just to get in the door now is almost double what it was. For the same 35 garbage channels I got with basic cable 10 years ago. And this is WITH the services having been aggressively savaged by streaming. Also, I hear from friends and family that TV ads have become even more relentless.
With streaming there is no artificial pay wall. Yes, you need internet. But, that is clearly not an artificial barrier you need a way to get the content to you. So, I will say that the cover charge for streaming is $0. After which you can add only the services you want. They don't come as "bundles" or force you to buy higher tier internet packages or TVs or any non-sense.
You can also add or remove channels quickly and easily. At one point I had added channels to my cable package. There WAS a process for removing them. It was slow, unpleasant and while they would gladly allow me to remain grandfathered into my plan when adding channels, they would state that to remove channels I needed to be on a plan which was currently valid.
I know that these rules change frequently and were different everywhere. The fact remains, stuff like this was not uncommon. And it is (as far as I know) non-existent in streaming. I can quite literally quite at any time, online, without having to talk to anyone. Some services will even offer to prorate if I cancel in the middle of a billing cycle rather than just lapsing at the end.
Quality is my next beef. This is a bit more subjective. But, I think you can just look at average budgets to get a sense on this one. Netflix really made the argument that big budget series for streaming services were viable. TV had nothing to compare except Game of Thrones. But, I would argue that HBO at the time had a revenue model that was more inline with streaming than with Cable.
Convenience is the next pillar to fall. It is hard to beat on demand viewing. Yes, DVRs existed. But there are a few problems there. Firstly, you needed to set the DVR to record. And you needed to have space to hold what you were recording. Also, some cable companies (like mine) would only offer the option of a DVR at higher tiers and it cost more to rent the hardware. Cable cannot compete with streaming services in this respect.
And I think that the last thing to point out is; were making off like bandits and we KNEW it.
It wouldn't take much effort to Google and find article after article detailing how Netflix's existence was unsustainable. EVERYONE with a brain knew that getting that much high quality content at that one low price in one place was NEVER going to stay that way. So, YES, it has gotten worse. But, in my opinion it has gotten nowhere near as bad as it was before that.
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