A few years ago, I would’ve said that Netflix was probably on the way out. Like the angry children they are, studios were taking their toys and going home to make their own streaming services.
Netflix’s library was starting to look like better Tubi. Now Netflix looks to win the streaming wars.
And yet, here we are and Netflix suddenly has some stuff back. Increasingly more and more are starting to leave their parent services and ending up on Netflix.
Paramount+ dumped Star Trek: Prodigy and Netflix snapped it up. Many WB and DC films are leaving MAX to end up on Netflix, including Aquaman and Joker. What is happening here?
I believe a couple of things. One, people seem to keep Netflix accounts as a default. They pick and choose the more niche ones but Netflix is still perceived, rightly or wrongly, as having the biggest library.
Two, there’s a bunch of original content that seems to be must watch viewing, released just enough to for people to keep their accounts.
Cobra Kai, One Piece, Blue Eyed Samurai, and Rebel Moon have been draws. If you want to see comedy that still is brave, like Chappelle or Gervais, Netflix still has what you’re looking for.
Does Netflix still have issues? You bet. The Cuties/Big Mouth shows are still pretty awful and shouldn’t exist. They blew Witcher and Cowboy Bebop pretty badly.
But overall, they seem to understand a good mix of original programming and licensing stuff from other studios is a successful formula. Grabbing foreign shows by the truckload may result in a Squid Game success.
You space all that out over a year and people just aren’t cancelling their Netflix subscriptions, even though they raised their prices, are looking to place ads in the shows, and stopped the Netflix sharing.
They’ve grown their user base and unlike other services, they aren’t losing money. Sure it “lags” as it says below, but that I think is simply a symptom of the massive streaming industry shake up. Lagging growth is probably a huge success compared to losing millions.
Perhaps first mover advantage is understated sometimes. Netflix has seemed to weather the storm brought on by Amazon, MAX, Paramount, and Disney+.
Those are all floundering and only Amazon has big daddy Bezos willing to shell out in spite of horrendous losses. (Rangs of Power anyone?) From the Escapist:
The reasons for these hikes are obvious. The companies are floundering. Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing has grown its user base, but its quarterly revenue growth and forecast still lag estimates.
Disney+ lost 11.7 million subscribers and $512 million in the second quarter of 2023, bringing total losses on the service to more than $11 billion. In that same period, Max lost 1.8 million subscribers. Apple TV+ has reportedly seen its market share diluted in the past year.
Even those streaming services that have seen an increase in subscriptions are struggling to balance the books. Peacock gained 2 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2023, but lost $651 million. Paramount’s direct-to-consumer businesses lost $424 million in that same window, which is actually down from the $511 million losses in the previous quarter. That appears to be the thing about the streaming wars. Even the winners end up losing.
The biggest trump card is quality content. Netflix has some crap, but unlike Disney, it has a wide variety and plenty of good stuff you’ve never seen.
You won’t find pure horror on Disney. Prime is simply an add-on to the free delivery so it’s hard to know how it would do if it had to stand on its own.
Too many things on MAX that you’ve already seen or don’t care to. Paramount has some interesting IP’s and variety but they also have done what the others have done, screwed their major IP’s with “The Message.”
Netflix has that but not ONLY that. The mix, depth of content, and the sheer inertia of their customer base may make them the last man standing.
Do you still have a Netflix account? I personally have cancelled all but Prime and Parmount+ but I never stopped with Netflix. How about you?
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