Netflix's woes continue as company loses a million subscribers
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While at the moment, Netflix is still the biggest streaming service by far with 220.7 million subscribers (Amazon's Prime Video is a distant second with 175 million subscribers), it lost almost a million subscribers between April and July as per the BBC. However, apparently, Netflix expected an even bigger drop but the Season 4 of 'Stranger Things', which debuted in two volumes this year, may have avoided that. But still, the subscriber loss is the biggest in the company's history.
The troubles of streaming giant Netflix continue. While at the moment, it is still the biggest streaming service by far with 220.7 million subscribers (Amazon's Prime Video is a distant second with 175 million subscribers), it lost almost a million subscribers between April and July as per the BBC. However, apparently, Netflix expected an even bigger drop but the Season 4 of 'Stranger Things', which debuted in two volumes this year, may have avoided that. But still, the subscriber loss is the biggest in the company's history.
Reed Hastings told the British broadcaster when asked what lessened the damage, "If there was a single thing, we might say 'Stranger Things'." But even the Dufffers Brothers horror show will end one day. The company cannot rely on one product to retain subscribers.
Netflix has been in hot water financially for quite some time now. Back in April, it reported that about 200,000 subscribers said goodbye to their subscription, which was the first time in more than a decade that the company lost users, instead of gaining them. The execs had actually expected to gain 2.5 million subscribers.
The company had laid off hundreds of staffers as its share price fell sharply.
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Netflix's troubles really began when legacy film studios like Disney and Warner Bros decided to jump on the streaming bandwagon with services like Disney+ and Warner Bros and began to eat into Netflix's share. Unlike Netflix, these services come bundled with several decades of legacy content, including millions of hours of well-loved, and rewatch-friendly TV shows like Lizzie McGuire (in the case of Disney +) and 'Friends' (in case of HBO Max).
Netflix has only new content to fall back on, and in an increasingly crowded space, it has struggled to market and promote its shows and movies.
The company has announced plans to stem the tide of subscribers abandoning ship. These include announcing cheaper, ad-supported plans and banning people from sharing their Netflix accounts. It remains to be seen whether these methods work.
