I was going to say this seems factually untrue, because the number of films released each year has been going up for a long time, but there are some interesting

I was going to say this seems factually untrue, because the number of films released each year has been going up for a long time, but there are some interesting parallels on how films are distributed. Looking at https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-films-are-released-each-year/ https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-films-are-released-each-..., the number of films released has gone way up over time, but the number of films in wide-release has gone done. The internet has more content then ever, but the long tail of content there is consumed at a smaller rate relative to the big 3/5/100 web properties. The problem isn't that consumer freedom has been killed- after all, all those films and content exist and likely more accessible than ever, its that the large centralized firms have managed to largely satisfy the majority of consumer demand without it. If I have the time to see a movie (a rare occurrence sadly) and Disney has a Marvel or Star Wars movie out, I'll just go see that, even if there might be a limited showing of a comedy-western-crime genre film out that I'd enjoy even more. Note, I am concerned about media consolidation, but its more about distribution and IP ownership at this point than consumer choice.