Netflix had a rough quarter, and the growth of the company has slowed down considerably.
The Hollywood Reporter reported the following late Wednesday afternoon:
Netflix’s paid memberships grew by 2.7 million from April to June, less than half of the 5.5 million it added during the same period last year. In fact, it lost around 130,000 subscribers in the U.S., where it has more market penetration. The company, which now has just over 151 million total paid members, had projected additions of 5 million during the period and Wall Street, per FactSet, was expecting 5.1 million new subscribers.
Well, I guess this is what happens when you take away people’s favorite shows. When they lost “It’s Always Sunny,” people complained, but nothing really happened.
Now, they’re taking away “The Office,” and it’s all anybody really seems to want to talk about when discussing Netflix. (RELATED: ‘The Office‘ Will Leave Netflix In January 2021, Will Stream On NBC Platform)
The fact they’re down across the board, and really down in America isn’t a great sign at all. They still have a ton of subscribers, but you never want to see the needle dip.
I’m most certainly not cheering for Netflix to fail. I wouldn’t want anybody to think that. That’s not the case at all. I love the streaming service, and I use it daily. A lot of things would have to go wrong for me to leave.
Having said that, I can’t be surprised it’s not booming like it once was. There’s just too much competition, and the content is changing.
If Netflix wants to survive, then it has to keep banging out golden originals like “Stranger Things” and “Ozark.”
If the streaming service doesn’t continue cranking out great original content and continues to lose the great old stuff, then they’re going to be in serious trouble.
Right now, there’s no reason to smash the panic button. Sure, the numbers are down, but they’re far from levels that should have people panicking.
Let’s hope Netflix bounces back with some great content, and makes up for losing “The Office.” I really don’t want the service to fail at all, but a few changes would probably be smart.