Streaming services are abundant and everywhere you look—your television, your mobile devices, and in stores. Chances are if you are watching movies, television shows, or listening to music, you are doing so through a streaming service. Streaming is such a part of our everyday life, it is only fitting that there is a day to celebrate it and May 20th is that day. Roku actually founded this day in 2014 to celebrate their 10th anniversary in business.
Streaming actually began on September 5, 1995, when ESPN streamed a live radio broadcast of the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners baseball game. However, the streaming industry catapulted when Netflix began producing original content in 2013. Yes, there were previous attempts to gain viewers, such as the introduction of YouTube in 2005 and Hulu introducing their site enlisting NBC as one of their first content providers in 2008. The presence of live streaming capabilities within social media apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest, now renders it easier to watch anytime anywhere.
This technology continues to reach new highs and there is no sign of slowing down. Cable subscriptions hover around 76 million, while subscribers to streaming services totals around 113 million. On average, 85% of American households subscribe to at least one streaming service and spend approximately $75 per month. In 2022, Americans streamed over 19.4 Streaming is big business! The Walt Disney Company spent approximately 33 billion to create original content on their services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) and Amazon spent 16 billion on their programming.
In honor of “National Streaming Day” many services are offering deals if you subscribe now. So, enjoy this day by subscribing to a streaming service, spend time with friends by inviting them over to watch a streaming show, or start your watchlist of programs and/or movies you want to see. Regardless of what you choose to do this day, you are most likely going to be using some type of streaming service. In addition, to those already mentioned, here is an assortment of options to get you started: