海角大神

When Taylor Parker and his fianc茅e recently changed internet providers, cable TV was bundled into their package. Four months on, they still haven鈥檛 plugged in the cable box.

That鈥檚 because they can barely keep up with Amazon Prime Video, HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, Showtime, Sling TV, and Starz. Last month, Mr. Parker added one more 鈥� CBS All Access, for the March Madness games. Cumulative cost? About $150 per month to watch two hours of television a week.

鈥淪aying it out loud makes you feel like, oh ... I鈥檓 spending all this money for no reason,鈥� says Mr. Parker, a tech-firm salesman in Redmond, Washington. 鈥淵ou end up paying more than you would when you鈥檙e cutting cable.鈥澛犅�

Call it subscription fatigue. Afraid of missing out on hit shows and movies, viewers are loading up their TV screens with multiple portals, each one a gateway to seemingly infinite viewing choices. Now Apple is muscling in, too. Its is an all-you-can-watch buffet of shows starring Reese Witherspoon, Brie Larson, and Oprah. As overwhelmed viewers struggle to juggle all the options, industry observers wonder if a saturation point is near.

鈥淚n one sense this is the best of times for consumers because they haven鈥檛 had so much choice, 300 streaming video services alone, on top of music services and gaming services,鈥� says Jeff Loucks, co-author of the 2019 Digital Media Trends Survey published by the consulting firm Deloitte. But, he adds, 鈥渂ecause they have so many choices, it can be hard for them to select among them. But also once they have them, it can be hard for them to find the content that they want while they are juggling these services.鈥�

Deloitte鈥檚 annual survey discovered that, for the first time, more respondents (69 percent) had at least one streaming service subscription than have a cable or satellite subscription (65 percent). The survey reports that 47 percent of respondents are 鈥渇rustrated鈥� by the proliferation of services needing subscriptions in order to customize their viewing experience.

Even among couch potatoes, the overwhelming number of TV options 鈥� many of them seldom used 鈥� prompts the same kind of anxiety as expensive, infrequently used gym memberships. The worry for individual streaming services is that overwhelmed customers will finally cancel that monthly payment. After all, many have already cut the cord on cable. Many streamers, like Bostonian Rebeca Oliveira, have developed strategies to regularly streamline their a la carte television menus.聽聽

鈥淗BO, Starz, and CBS are recent additions due to our programming: 鈥� 鈥楪ame of Thrones鈥� and 鈥楲ast Week Tonight,鈥� 鈥楢merican Gods,鈥� and 鈥楽tar Trek: Discovery,鈥� respectively,鈥� says Ms. Oliveira, an executive assistant. 鈥淲e cancel those when the shows are off the air and re-up when they鈥檙e back on. Netflix is on the verge of being canceled, especially following their cancellation of 鈥極ne Day at a Time,鈥� but 鈥楺ueer Eye鈥� and 鈥楪reat British Bake Off鈥� are my favorite feel-good shows, so it鈥檚 still hanging on.鈥�

Wooing viewers with originality

For streaming platforms, the challenge is to retain viewers by developing a deep slate of shows. In 2018, Netflix spent $8 billion on developing original content that now accounts for more than half its offerings. Amazon, Apple, Hulu, and others are in an arms race to sign big-name talent to supply must-see titles that roll out year round.

For example, Amazon Prime Video is developing 鈥淭he Hunt,鈥� a show about Nazi hunters in 1970s New York with director Jordan Peele (鈥淯s,鈥� 鈥淕et Out鈥�). Hulu snagged Kristen Bell to revive cult detective series 鈥淰eronica Mars.鈥� Apple TV+ has resorted to breaking out the big guns 鈥� namely Jason Momoa鈥檚 muscles 鈥� in the sci-fi warrior show 鈥淪ee.鈥� Disney may be able top that: Its yet-to-be-unveiled streaming platform will include Marvel鈥檚 superheroes, Pixar鈥檚 movies, and the recently acquired 20th Century Fox library.

鈥淩ight now, all of these different high-profile content creators are aligned with different streaming services. But, at some point, all of the disassociation between streaming services and where they watch which content is really going to rattle consumers and frustrate them,鈥� says Noelle Barnes, a marketing director in Bellevue, Washington, who worked for Amazon Prime Video when it launched in 2011.

The push to create original content has created a bubble and consumers may decide they鈥檙e overpaying, agrees Kevin McDonald, co-editor of 鈥淭he Netflix Effect.鈥� He anticipates a shakeout of the market and coming consolidation of some of the services.

鈥淭his could come crashing down, but behaviorally people have become accustomed to having access to all this stuff,鈥� says Dr. McDonald, who teaches communication studies at California State University, Northridge.

鈥榃here does it stop?鈥�

There鈥檚 another phenomenon at work: FOMO (fear of missing out). Streaming services work to prime the 鈥渕ust see鈥� anticipation of their products. Amazon鈥檚 prequel series to J.R.R. Tolkien鈥檚 鈥淟ord of the Rings鈥� is still several years away聽but the buzz is already louder than an army of Orcs.

鈥淚鈥檓 always questioning if it鈥檚 worth paying for these services,鈥� says IT manager Dave Ross of Boston. 鈥淲here does it stop? It feels like everybody wants their own streaming service with their own exclusives now. We鈥檝e learned to live with FOMO. There might be a show exclusively on a service we don鈥檛 subscribe to, and that鈥檚 OK. We鈥檇 rather keep the $10 to $20 a month and spend it on something more meaningful.鈥�

For now, millions of viewers will continue to spend their evenings scrolling through the nearly 500 scripted TV shows currently in production. For many, the search ends up in a paralysis of indecision.

鈥淭he most important single step people can take is to learn to be satisfied with 鈥榞ood enough鈥� options instead of always needing the best because that in and of itself can limit the amount of time you spend searching,鈥� says Barry Schwartz, author of 鈥淭he Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less.鈥�

A fan of binge-watching shows such as 鈥淭he Wire,鈥� 鈥淏etter Call Saul,鈥� and 鈥淭rue Detective,鈥� Mr. Schwartz also tries to abide by his other piece of advice: 鈥淕o out and get some exercise.鈥�