• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

Streaming platforms have changed the video ecosystem. But perhaps not all that much when it comes to consumers weighing those select, high-demand programs they want versus thousands of other TV-streaming series content choices.

The main issue is whether consumers are paying too much for content they will never watch in return for a few shows they cannot do without.

That must-have list includes top streaming shows such as “Stranger Things,” “The Pitt,” “Landman" and “Only Murders in the Building,” among many others.

This reflects back on the traditional pay TV system -- cable, satellite and telco TV packages -- where for years consumers complained about two to three hundred channels they said they would never watch. Around that time and for years, research suggested that consumers may only regularly watch five to at most 10 networks.

Nowadays, the goal -- and rightfully so -- is focused on individual programming, especially when new seasons are available.

The focus for all this is on "churn" -- the behavior stemming from streamers' standard option that allows consumers to stop and start their subscriptions.

It seems consumers are now in a "passive acceptance" mode in this analysis, giving up some control -- including rising monthly price hikes (hello, Netflix!) -- to solve all their needs.

This has expressed itself through lower overall subscription halts by consumers, says subscription research company Antenna, which now shows a steady and fairly low 5% churn rate.

One could say this is a return to the future thinking. But this does not mean the streamers are totally in the driver’s seat.

Though declining legacy media companies’ still get higher overall profitability from linear TV network business versus a now maturing streaming marketplace with slower rising profits.

All this makes for interesting times. More mergers then? For streaming platforms probably.

Think what Walt Disney is doing by merging Disney+ with Hulu. And Paramount Skydance's plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max.

Netflix and other premium streamers have around 1,000 to 1,500 high-quality TV shows. So.. just watch -- and avoid the rest?