Netflix, an American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media, has become the best friend of bored college students everywhere and Ashland University is no exception. Instead of traveling all the way to DVD rental stores or Wal-Mart to buy or rent individual movies or television shows, students overwhelmingly prefer paying $8 a month for a subscription to Netflix.

Those seven white letters on their red background are a familiar and welcome sight to students who are sick of watching reruns of Reba on their cable televisions and don’t like the commitment of having to remember to return Batman tomorrow.

Netflix has become a huge part of AU’s students’ lives since it became largely popular and gained 20 million subscribers in 2011, making it the world’s leading Internet subscription service for viewing movies and television shows. 

The number of Netflix subscribers is now equivalent to the entire population of Australia. 

Chase Mecurio, a Rec Center employee, says that AU’s Recreation Center rents out DVDs for one dollar but the most that are usually out at one time is around three or four. 

“The number of DVDs out at once vary. Friday and Saturday are the most busy and we usually only get one or two taken out during the week,” said Mecurio.

Cable television ratings and DVD sales have plummeted since the online streaming system Netflix took off. Although Netflix was founded in 1997, DVD sales weren’t largely affected until the past few years. 

According to Time Magazine’s Brad Tuttle, a new entertainment industry report states that DVD purchases have been plummeting and Netflix subscriptions have been skyrocketing. 

“Overall DVD purchases were down 18.3 percent at the same time that spending was up 40 percent to 45 percent on subscription services such as Netflix.”

Why purchase additional DVDs to add to your collection of movies you bought to watch once? Now they only serve the purpose of clogging up your shelves and collecting dust.

Most students don’t see the benefit of buying or renting DVDs that are likely bound to show up on Netflix where they can watch it an unlimited amount of times. They can also browse through hundreds of obscure and popular movies and television shows alike. 

The smart TVs on some floors of Kem are used almost exclusively to watch Netflix and even in other buildings students can often be found watching it on their laptops or even on smartphones. 

The extensive use of Netflix isn’t exclusive to AU; students at other universities spend most weeknights catching up on their season of Breaking Bad or asking around to see what good shows to watch. 

“I honestly don’t know what I would do without Netflix,” said Ohio State University student Tyler La Susa.

“Its kind of scary because once you subscribe it becomes an obsession. It’s such a big part of my life now. Or my lack thereof…”

OSU student Tony Donatos agrees.

“If it weren’t for Netflix I like to think I would be a 4.0 student. So in that respect it is bad for me, but it’s great for when you have friends over and want to watch a movie, there are so many genres and it tailors the movie and TV show suggestions just for you,” he said.

Netflix’s easy accessibility is another reason it is so favored among college students. The constantly growing devices streaming from Netflix include: Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Blu Ray Players, Internet Television, Roku DVR, iPhone, TiVo DVR, and iPad.

According to Diego Martinez-Moncada, a business journalist for Daily Infographic, back in 2000 Blockbuster, a large DVD rental company, turned down several offers to buy Netflix for a mere $50 million. In 2010 Blockbuster declared bankruptcy. 

Myranda McAfee, AU student, doesn’t have a Netflix subscription and was looking for a DVD at a Redbox. A Redbox is an automated retail kiosk that rents out DVDs, Blu Rays, and video games. 

Her local Ashland Circle K no longer had a Redbox, so she went to Drug Mart where she still had no luck. Finally she went to CVS where the Redbox wasn’t working. However, every Wal-Mart still has two Redbox kiosks at each door so Redbox is still a top competitor with Netflix. 

While DVD rental stores have been going out of business and declaring bankruptcy and cable TV is becoming more and more mute, much like landline phones, Netflix is continuously becoming a household name for anyone who wants to stream videos online. Netflix has the advantage of not having to leave one’s home and it also has unlimited viewing and vast options for movies and television shows, everything from documentaries to Disney movies.

College students love having the option of watching hours and hours of their favorite TV shows and Netflix provides them with more affordable and more convenience than cable, Redbox, or DVD rental stores could ever hope to.