Netflix loses close to one million subscribers

world
Netflix Loses Close To One Million Subscribers
Netflix, © AP/Press Association Images
Share this article

By Michael Liedtke, Associated Press

Netflix shed almost one million subscribers during the spring amid tougher competition and soaring inflation squeezing household budgets.

The April-June contraction of 970,000 accounts, announced on Tuesday as part of Netflix’s second-quarter earnings report, is by far the largest quarterly subscriber loss in the company’s 25-year history.

Advertisement

It could have been far worse, though, considering Netflix management released an April forecast calling for a loss of two million subscribers during the second quarter.

Netflix was probably spared from deeper losses by the ongoing popularity of Stranger Things, its science fiction/horror series that debuted in 2016.

Advertisement

 

Following the release of the series’ fourth season in late May, Netflix said, viewers watched a total of 1.3 billion hours of it over the next four weeks — more than any other English-language series in the service’s history.
The less severe loss in subscribers, combined with an outlook calling for a return to growth in the July-September period, helped lift Netflix’s battered stock by 7% in extended trading after the numbers came out.

Netflix co-chief executive Reed Hastings did not try to sugar-coat things during a Tuesday conference call about the results.

“It’s tough losing a million subscribers and calling it a success,” he said.

Advertisement

The company’s April-June regression follows a loss of 200,000 subscribers during the first three months of the year, marking the first time Netflix’s subscriber totals have shrunk in consecutive quarters since its transition from offering DVD-by-mail rentals to video streaming began 15 years ago.

The loss of nearly 1.2 million subscribers during first half of this year also provides a start contrast to the pandemic-driven growth that Netflix enjoyed during the first half of 2020 when its streaming service picked up nearly 26 million subscribers.

Despite the downturn, Netflix still earned 1.4 billion dollars (£1.1b), or 3.20 dollars (£2.7) per share during the quarter, a 6% increase from the same time last year. Revenue rose 9% from the same time last year to nearly 8 billion dollars (£6.7b).

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com