Fix Netflix

SystemShock said
Before we get too far ahead:

200,000 subscriptions sounds like a lot, but globally, Netflix has 222,000,000 subscribers. A drop of 200,000 subscriptions is 9.009009009009009e-4% of total subscriptions.

We don't really know why subscriptions dropped. Could be content, sure, but obviously the pandemic has had an impact on content everywhere. Add to that, Disney took some of the best shows Netflix had (Punisher, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, etc).

It could also be the global inflation that many countries are going through, and people are cutting back on expenses. You have to keep in mind, TV viewing in the US is very different than viewing in other countries. There is a lot of content you get for free over the air that you'd have to pay for in the U.S., and OTA viewing is certainly more common in countries outside the U.S.

Password sharing is a problem, sure.

Then there is investor panic during an inflationary period. They see any sign of trouble, they bail out. Netflix's main business is streaming, unlike Disney, or Apple, Amazon, Paramount, etc.

So we can speculate why Netflix lost relatively few subscriptions (200,000 of 222,000,000 million ) last month, but we really don't know. It could be that Netflix will run out of subscribers worldwide by the end of the year, or it could be not. Who knows.

But let's not toll those death knells yet, and pretend we know what is going on globally based on a narrow local view.

They, Netflix, are apparently projecting that they will lose another 2 million subscribers this quarter. So, it appears to be a trend. And I think it started when they raised their monthly subscription fee. This is speculation, but I think a lot of people kept Netflix because it was nice to have if they put out something you wanted to watch and it's kind of the old stand by in streaming services. But, there is a number at which people will get rid of it and won't just keep it around just because. They seem to have found that number. So, I think their either need to produce more good content to make it worth it to pay that new higher fee or they need to revert the fee back to lower.

However, I have read that the new trend for streaming services will be to offer ad based services with limited ads for a lower monthly cost. I know Hulu has been doing this for awhile and I think HBO Max added that tier recently, but it appears to be expanding and what Netflix is planning to do. This is not a good trend for consumers. It appears that the streaming services want to revert back to the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s when TV was all weekly episodes and paid for by advertising. Except now they want us to pay a monthly subscription to multiple services and to an ISP in order to see their ads and weekly content drops.