Hi-Line survey finds majority of students prefer online for video stories instead of TV

An anonymous survey given to students on Schoology concluded that 82 percent of students grew up watching cable television; however, of those 64 students, only 32.8 percent are still subscribed to cable television. 

Sophomore Shannon Weich said he grew up watching cable television almost on a daily basis at his grandparents’ house. For a while, his access to the once familiar Direct TV outlet was cut short, but this did not upset Weich. “They unsubscribed from cable around the time I was getting into streaming services like Netflix,” he said. 

Weich said his family mainly watches their entertainment on Netflix and Disney+. “I feel like Netflix and other streaming services are more useful because you have more choices on what to watch, as long as it’s on the subscription list,” he said.

Weich said growing up, he mainly watched channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. “I loved watching Spongebob. I used to watch a lot of Henry Danger and record those episodes and watch them back to back,” he said. 

As technology advances, more families are transitioning to online news outlets and streaming services. It’s becoming more certain that paper news and cable television are turning obsolete. “I think my grandparents will be the last generation to subscribe to newspaper copies and cable,” Weich said. 

Junior Cam Smith said he did not grow up watching cable television. Instead, he spent his time watching YouTube and other streaming services for entertainment. He said his favorite channel to watch was Vanoss and Captainsparklez. 

Smith said he wasn’t bothered by the fact that his family wasn’t subscribed to cable television simply because he didn’t need it. “No one at school talked about anything on television, so I felt like YouTube was enough. My family grew up on VHS tapes and CDs, so it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. 

Smith said his family first subscribed to Netflix and other streaming services when he was 10. “If my mom still has it when I’m out of the house, I’ll probably just stay on her account,” he said. 

Smith said his grandparents received paper copies of newspapers when he was younger, but his mother did not. “I don’t think the newer generations will go back to the old ways of delivering papers house to house. We have everything we need online, so we don’t need to spend the extra cash on wasting paper,” Smith said.

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