Will Netflix survive?
September 4, 2019
Netflix jumped onto the digital entertainment market in 2007, allowing viewers to switch from in-store purchases to watch movies and shows to streaming them anywhere on their devices; this resulted in the death of former competitor Blockbuster, and with the downfall of the competition, Netflix gained a subscriber count of 44.35 million by 2013.
With new competition coming in, Netflix might not remain the top dog for much longer. Disney, NBC TV Network, WarnerMedia, Apple, and several other companies plan to launch their own streaming services, while pulling their own content from Netflix. Depending on the outcome of these new companies, this could become a helpful or harmful adjustment for Netflix.
Strangely enough, the initial price for Netflix streaming started at $8 for the basic standard and premium packages; yet as of recently, the price can range from $8 to $15. U.S. households may not find Netflix worth it at such a high price since DisneyPlus plans on charging $6.99 monthly and $69.99 annually. In contrast to DisneyPlus, WarnerMedia plans to charge $16 to $17 a month.
These new services also plan to show their own content. Earlier this year, CBS decided to take back the rights to the popular show “The Office”, and WarnerMedia took back the rights to the classic sitcom “Friends”. These shows alone brought 52 million+ minutes watched and subscribers to Netflix.
“The loss of these shows is freeing up budget for more original content,” Netflix wrote in a Q2 statement.
Slowly but surely, Netflix will no longer obtain the largest portion of the most popular shows on the service, resulting in the stock creeping lower and lower. Down eleven percent in shares, Netflix released its report and the net came out to only $2.7 million as opposed to the usual $5 million. The decrease in revenue resulted from the loss of 126,000 domestic subscribers. However, Netflix predicts a gain of 352,000 new subscribers. Even with all the problems facing the company, Netflix executives hope for an increase in subscribers from their 149 million paid ones.
To combat these problems, Netflix plans to expand to even more parts of the world, providing original content for India and select parts of Europe. While catering to other parts of the world, Netflix will need to continue to make its own original content from now on. The failure or success of the company depends on the production of the content. Last year Netflix spent $12 billion on its original content. In return, the third season of Stranger Things brought in 26.4 million viewers in the U.S. Over the first four days after its release, and Bird Box brought in 26 million views in its first week. If Netflix continues at this rate, the chances of the company keeping subscribers and bringing in new ones will increase.
Once at the top, Netflix may lose its crown to a new company. Whether or not they can keep that top spot depends on the new content coming out. Will Netflix survive?