By Jacob Boldur
During the pandemic, many people had a lot more time on their hands. As a result, they turned to binge-watching TV to occupy themselves. According to BBC News, people spent six and a half hours a day watching TV and one hour and 11 minutes watching streaming services, double from before the pandemic. Furthermore, 12 million new customers signed up for new services, leaving viewing figures for video streaming services to rise 71%.
Streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Peacock and more started coming out with many shows that viewers were excited to watch during quarantine. These shows included “Outer Banks,” “Cobra Kai,” “All American,” “Ginny and Georgia” and many more. Yet the question remains, where are they now?
Artwork by Lindsay Kim
Many fans question what shows will stay popular as we enter 2023.
“During quarantine, I watched a lot of shows like ‘Cobra Kai’ and ‘The Flash.’ I also started and really enjoyed ‘All American,’ but didn't continue to watch the following seasons after quarantine. It really wasn't the same show as it was before. It was different, and I didn't have much interest in it,” eighth-grader Christopher Lopez said.
Many people only started watching TV due to the circumstances of COVID. Once the virus had reached its peak and the number of cases had decreased, the ability to get out of the house and be more active has led to less screen time, resulting in TV shows losing popularity. According to an article in The Guardian, Netflix subscribers dramatically slowed down in the first three months of 2021, ending the shocking run in growth during the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, The Hollywood Reporter also revealed that the increase in quarantine TV ratings is over.
“I think that TV shows lost their popularity because during the pandemic everyone was home, and that was basically all you could do. Now since things are starting to open up a lot more, people aren't always on the couch watching TV,” eighth-grader Regina Mejia said.
“For me, I do not regularly have any time to watch television. It usually takes an extenuating circumstance (like quarantine) for me to be able to watch TV. A typical week is way too hectic and tiring to spend any time in front of the television for me,” living environment teacher Ms. Radonis said.
COVID was a great opportunity for many streaming services to attract more viewers. Although with the pandemic waning, will these shows’ popularity diminish with it?
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