Netflix lost 970,000 subscribers in Q2, but it could have been much worse

[Shawn Knight]

In context: Netflix disclosed in its latest earnings report that it lost subscribers for the second straight quarter after more than a decade of sustained growth. Still, the video streaming giant is optimistic as the losses could have cut much deeper.

When Netflix reported Q1 results back in April, the company said it expected to lose as many as two million additional subscribers in the second quarter. In actuality, Netflix shed just half that at 970,000 subscribers during the three-month period ending June 30.

The second quarter was headlined by season four of Stranger Things. The highly anticipated original hit generated 1.3 billion hours viewed in its first four weeks to become Netflix's biggest English TV season yet. It also renewed interest in past seasons, with Netflix observing a greater than five-fold increase in views after season four dropped.

It's been a rough year for Netflix as the company's stock has lost more than 65 percent of its value since early January. Momentum has started to swing back in its favor as of late with shares currently trading at $204.55 but there is a lot of ground to make up to get back near that $600 per share valuation.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Netflix expects to add around a million subscribers. That's nowhere near the 4.4 million additions in the same quarter of the previous year, but any growth is better than further losses.

In related news, Netflix said its ad-supported tier will launch sometime in early 2023 as a lower-cost alternative to existing ad-free plans.

As announced before, Netflix is partnering with Microsoft to power the ad experience. It'll likely launch in a handful of markets initially in order to allow Netflix to iterate quickly as the offering expands.

Netflix also provided an update on the password sharing front, noting that it is in the early stages of monetizing the 100 million+ households that enjoy the service without directly paying for it. Testing of two different approaches is now underway in Latin America to help identify an easy-to-use paid sharing solution that can be rolled out in 2023.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/95368-netflix-dodges-bullet-q2-subscriber-bleed-slows.html

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

Now they will just increase the price again to $25-30 a month. To try to solve the problem, but instead will make even more people leave. In all honesty, the content Netflix has been putting out for the past couple of years is just trash. They will land like 3-4 great shows and the rest is trash.

Peacock and Hulu are cheaper and have great content. Apply TV has some decent shows, even the Woke Disney + has some decent watchable shows for half the price.

 

[nismo91]

Waiting for netflix to lose 10m subscriber in a year. I'm sure it might be sooner than later.

 

[Shear]

Now they will just increase the price again to $25-30 a month. To try to solve the problem, but instead will make even more people leave. In all honesty, the content Netflix has been putting out for the past couple of years is just trash. They will land like 3-4 great shows and the rest is trash.

Peacock and Hulu are cheaper and have great content. Apply TV has some decent shows, even the Woke Disney + has some decent watchable shows for half the price.

Eh, that's quite normal I'd say. They all can't be winners and every streaming service has its trash shows also. The problem for me is the price and choice. There are other options out there now and for me, Prime is better value in terms of what else I get out of it. Disney is very cheap in comparison too.

They could argue that their library is very big now and therefore the price has to reflect that but it's a stupid argument to make. For a long-term subscriber like myself, I'm not staying subscribed for all the old stuff I've already watched. Definitely not paying 15 a month. No thanks.

You are right though, they will rise prices further I'd say. Use "inflation" as the reason to do so and more people will unsub.

 

[yRaz]

It couldn't be worse than their content....

 

[hahahanoobs]

Eh, that's quite normal I'd say. They all can't be winners and every streaming service has its trash shows also. The problem for me is the price and choice. There are other options out there now and for me, Prime is better value in terms of what else I get out of it. Disney is very cheap in comparison too.

They could argue that their library is very big now and therefore the price has to reflect that but it's a stupid argument to make. For a long-term subscriber like myself, I'm not staying subscribed for all the old stuff I've already watched. Definitely not paying 15 a month. No thanks.

You are right though, they will rise prices further I'd say. Use "inflation" as the reason to do so and more people will unsub.

Someone should tell him Peacock and Hulu aren't Netflix and Prime. And every streaming service starts low and slowly raises prices depending on growth.

 

[waclark]

Given the news that they intend to crack down on password sharing, I'm sure they are about to lose even more subscribers. I subscribe and use my sub in 2 different homes that I own. If I have to pay extra for a second home, buh bye Netflix. I also, occasionally, use my sub when I am traveling or on vacation. If that will cost extra, buh-bye.

They set the price and allow for X number of simultaneous streams. While I understand they want to crack down on sharing with dozens of people, it feels like this may create problems (and more cost) for people like me who use the sub in multiple locations, but don't necessarily share with other people.

There's a reason I dropped Comcast TV and that was largely because I was paying a lot and was unable to view content when away from home. If Netflix becomes too expensive, it will go the way of Comcast.

 

[terzaerian]

They set the price and allow for X number of simultaneous streams. While I understand they want to crack down on sharing with dozens of people, it feels like this may create problems (and more cost) for people like me who use the sub in multiple locations, but don't necessarily share with other people.

VPNs make this even more complicated - some people get VPNs explicitly to change their location to circumvent asinine regional content locking, while others use VPNs while traveling to shield their data on public WiFi networks. How exactly is Netflix going to compensate for that?

As far as I'm concerned though, my patience with streaming networks is exhausted. If I want to be entertained, there are plenty of content creators on YouTube and Odysee.

 

[Uncle Al]

Waiting for netflix to lose 10m subscriber in a year. I'm sure it might be sooner than later.

According to this morning's news they lost over 2M this year and we're only have way through it!

 

[Shear]

Someone should tell him Peacock and Hulu aren't Netflix and Prime. And every streaming service starts low and slowly raises prices depending on growth.

Prime is much cheaper and offers significantly more outside of just streaming...

And whilst you are right that the prices go up they are clearly starting to find the cap as far as how much people are willing to pay.

 

[0dium]

And there is me who thought that Netflix and analogues will be the future and here I am watching it collapse. I am glad I skip all that TV things. There are so many YouTube videos which are fun, entertaining and teaching you some new stuff. You should check Technologyconnections

 

[p51d007]

"Part" of the problem with Netflix...is "content".
When they started out, they shipped DVD's to you of some of the latest movies.
Then streaming, all of the movies you wanted to watch.
THEN the studios caught on, Peacock, Disney, Paramount etc...they pulled their
content and show their own shows on their own streaming services.
That, and Netflix went woke.
How many years until we see Netflix, as "the Blockbuster" of streaming services?
May not die, but someone will buy them cheap.

 

[Shear]

"Part" of the problem with Netflix...is "content".
When they started out, they shipped DVD's to you of some of the latest movies.
Then streaming, all of the movies you wanted to watch.
THEN the studios caught on, Peacock, Disney, Paramount etc...they pulled their
content and show their own shows on their own streaming services.
That, and Netflix went woke.
How many years until we see Netflix, as "the Blockbuster" of streaming services?
May not die, but someone will buy them cheap.

Disney bro. Dinsey+ will be huge eventually. Just think how much content they will have on it in the coming years. Haven't they bought Fox too? I mean the amount of IPs they have is mad and the amount of capital they have is ridiculous. Disney will likely become the leader in online streaming eventually. They could easily buy Netflix in the end.

 

[Hexic]

"Part" of the problem with Netflix...is "content".
When they started out, they shipped DVD's to you of some of the latest movies.
Then streaming, all of the movies you wanted to watch.
THEN the studios caught on, Peacock, Disney, Paramount etc...they pulled their
content and show their own shows on their own streaming services.
That, and Netflix went woke.
How many years until we see Netflix, as "the Blockbuster" of streaming services?
May not die, but someone will buy them cheap.

It'll be interesting if their alleged courting of M$ will work.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Prime is much cheaper and offers significantly more outside of just streaming...

And whilst you are right that the prices go up they are clearly starting to find the cap as far as how much people are willing to pay.

I dumped Netflix for Prime long ago because I wasn't committed to their exclusive content, but Prime isn't Netflix. If it was all about getting a better deal, this article wouldn't exist, because everyone would already be on Prime.

Netflix is the most expensive because they grew the fastest, and maintaining a certain level of content costs money. That's the long and short of it.

 

[Shear]

I dumped Netflix for Prime long ago because I wasn't committed to their exclusive content, but Prime isn't Netflix. If it was all about getting a better deal, this article wouldn't exist, because everyone would already be on Prime.

Netflix is the most expensive because they grew the fastest, and content costs money. That's the long and short of it.

But of course "better deal" is part of it for any consumer.

I don't know about this whole "content costs money". It does of course but it always has so now what content costs more money now than it did before for some reason? It was enough money back then to make that content but now it's not enough?

Anyways, good luck to them, I am sure as hell not paying that.

 

[hahahanoobs]

But of course "better deal" is part of it for any consumer.

I don't know about this whole "content costs money". It does of course but it always has so now what content costs more money now than it did before for some reason? It was enough money back then to make that content but now it's not enough?

Anyways, good luck to them, I am sure as hell not paying that.

Part of it? It was your opener!
The level Netflix is at matters.

 

[Shear]

Part of it? It was your opener!
The level Netflix is at matters.

Not to a consumer.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Not to a consumer.

Then they can all go to Prime, remember?
Prices only go up. Netflix just needs more killer shows, because the price isn't all that bad to most, hence them gaining so many customers during the pandemic.

 

[Tams80]

Now they will just increase the price again to $25-30 a month. To try to solve the problem, but instead will make even more people leave. In all honesty, the content Netflix has been putting out for the past couple of years is just trash. They will land like 3-4 great shows and the rest is trash.

Peacock and Hulu are cheaper and have great content. Apply TV has some decent shows, even the Woke Disney + has some decent watchable shows for half the price.

No way they increase the price to that much, especially in these economic conditions. They know people will leave in droves of they do.

 

[Ricklb]

Wouldn't even think about supporting this corrupt company again after boycott for it's taking advantage of what little lower to middle income families could afford especially their ban on sharing which automatically cancelled the largest population of those in need of the little entertainment they had. SHAME on NETFLIX and CONTINUE TO BOYCOTT!

 

[lripplinger]

Make crap products, you lose customers.