In late May 2020, HBO launched their brand new streaming platform, HBO Max. The new service includes the all-time HBO lineup with shows such as The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, True Detective, and so much more. However, what came to the surprise to many was the various attributions of movies and shows from motion picture companies Warner Bros. and the DC Extended Universe. As an added bonus, HBO Max will be releasing movies such as Wonder Woman 1984, Dune, and In The Heights on the same day they come out in theaters across America.

On a normal family plan, HBO Max is $14.99 a month. Netflix, is $11.99, Hulu comes out to $5.99, and Disney+ comes out to $6.99. If one were to have all of these streaming services at their disposal, the estimated cost is somewhere around $40 (if a family plan). Even if you subscribed to all of these, you would still come up short to reach the mark of a monthly cable subscription, Xfinity for example, for the smallest package at 140 channels, is $49.99 a month. So with the new addition of HBO Max, it brings up the more recent question, is it time to cut the cord on cable?

Over the past decade, “cord cutting” has been an exponential trend that only continues to grow in an upwards fashion. Even during quarantine, experts say that in fact even more people are canceling cable. Just this year alone, it’s estimated that nearly six and a half million people are dismantling their cable subscription and moving on to other streaming platforms like the ones introduced earlier, or simply moving to other streaming devices such as their phones or laptops to get the job done.

Some of the most common questions surrounding the new trend is in regards to the programs that you can’t always obtain on your normal streaming platforms such as Netflix. However, just over the past couple of years these platforms have adapted to these holes in order to attract those who only keep cable for the sole purpose of watching SportsCenter or any live sports for that matter. When Hulu introduced live sports to their platform it was a game-changer and quite frankly might have been the nail in the coffin for cable companies as we know them.

Now, this does not mean the end of cable, and these gigantic companies surely won’t disappear in a blink of an eye anytime soon. Still, there is too large of an audience coming from the older generations that are the foundation of cable companies as we know them today. However as the trends continue in the way they are now, who’s to say that cable will cease to exist in the next 10-20 years. The experts theorize it. The numbers show it.