Netflix is a streaming service with more than 220 million subscribers. When you subscribe, you can access its catalogue of over 125 million hours of content.
You can choose and pick TV shows and films of your liking. Then, you can watch it at a time that suits you, in the comfort of your own home.
You can watch everything from the latest drama series to reality shows, the latest blockbuster films, history content, documentaries, comedy, kids’ program and many other genres.
However, Netflix recently announced that it lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter of 2022. Moreover, the company is projecting losing another 2,000,000 subscribers in the second quarter. We will highlight the possible reasons for this trend.
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As many people were at home during the last two years, streaming services including Netflix had a spectacular growth rate. Most people turned to their screens to whittle away the hours or binge-watch. As a result, Netflix enjoyed subscription growth around the world in 2020. There was a jump in new sign-ups of nearly 37 million new customers.
However, as restaurants, stores, theatres and sports stadiums start to open up across the country, the demand for streaming services has reduced. Furthermore, the rise in the cost of living has led hard-pressed consumers to cancel their subscription services. The year 2021 marked the slowest subscription growth since 2015 for Netflix.
Content
Although Netflix has thousands of films and TV shows for you to binge-watch, it comes second to none for original programs. This is one way the company keeps customers coming back to its platform.
The company has become one of the biggest media publishers around the world with its Netflix Originals. Their share of global demand for original programming stands at more than 50 percent. The nearest competition is Amazon Prime Video at 12 percent.
Since the launch of House of Cards in 2013, Netflix has had a string of hits like The Crown, The Witcher, The Queen’s Gambit and more. Instead, it has been focusing on crime documentaries and reality shows.
Catalogue
There is no question that any decent streaming service must be able to completely replace your cable subscription. The streaming service must offer a wide range of titles to cater for everyone.
Currently, Netflix is the streaming service to beat; it has an enormous catalogue and lots of must-watch originals. You can choose from a wide range of films, dramas, documentaries, animes and many more. However, Netflix will find it harder to compete with the quality of Hulu, Apple TV and HBO Max content in future.
Netflix has a CineMatch recommendation algorithm to suggest shows based on your viewing history. For example, if you’re a fan of casino themed movies and you like to play the best casino games in Ireland, you might want to binge-watch all the top-rated casino films such as Croupier, 21, and James Bond: Casino Royale.
Competition
Streaming competition has become very intense as every major entertainment company is throwing money at it. In the past two years alone, Apple, Warner Media, Comcast and others have launched streaming services.
Although Netflix has a head start, it is facing stiff competition from Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV Plus and others. All the competitors offer a cheaper basic subscription than Netflix. Moreover, these plans offer complete 4K streaming and simultaneous streaming as well. Netflix also faces a diminishing catalogue as Hulu and HBO pull out content to host on their own platforms.
Amazon has a massive content catalogue to stream. At the same time, the company has increased the production of original content to rival Netflix Originals.
Password sharing
Netflix estimates that about 100 million households share other users’ accounts.
For years, Netflix allowed this practice. This was an effective discount for subscribers to its service. Moreover, it provided different tiers of membership that allow for more devices to stream to its platform at the same time.
Although the company turned a blind eye towards this practice in the past, it has started to put in stricter controls to prevent password sharing.
Conclusion
Netflix is still the premier leading premium streaming service in the world with over 220 million worldwide subscribers. The company offers thousands of films and TV shows for you to binge-watch. Furthermore, it has carved out a reputation for producing high quality and entertaining original films and series with Netflix Originals.
However, Netflix is losing subscribers for the first time in many years. We hope this article has given you some insight as to the possible reasons for this trend but only the future will tell how it will turn out.
