UNITED STATES: Netflix continues to lose its users; previously, the streaming behemoth had lost over 200,000 subscribers in April. The platform managed to lose nearly 970,000 accounts between April and June as the ratio of service cancellations climbed.
The streaming platform saw a huge subscriber drop
The company disclosed its largest-ever membership withdrawals on Tuesday, with the US, Canada, and Europe, reporting the most suspensions in the quarter.
The streaming behemoth lost over 1.2 million customers in the first half of the year. The pandemic era saw a boost in Netflix subscriber growth. In 2020, the OTT platform bagged almost 26 million subscribers.
According to the April-June figures, Netflix lost over a million customers, the company’s largest loss in its 25-year history. However, the situation could worsen if Stranger Things wasn’t released in June and July. It may be concluded that the hit show minimised the streaming behemoth’s subscriber loss; if the series had not been released, the OTT platform could have suffered a massive loss of more than 1 million users.
The hit sci-fi series reduces the loss to some extent
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 set a new standard for all previous seasons when it premiered on May 27, 2022. Volume 1 had the highest number of hours watched in a weekend premiere for a streaming series, at 286.79 million. Volume 2 breaks its own record, continuing the popularity of season 4 with a dawn premiere that causes Netflix to crash. The enormous opening of volume 2 on a premiere day flooded the streaming behemoth, rendering the majority of its users inaccessible.
Netflix also faces intense competition from OTT providers such as Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and HBO Max. While the streaming behemoths initially dominated the OTT era in 2016, many new competitors have since entered the fray, dropping Netflix’s subscriber count.
The streaming giant generated roughly $1.4 billion during the quarter, with a 6 per cent boost over the previous year, despite the reduction in membership count. Previously, Netflix announced a partnership with Microsoft to display the advertising, continuing to move toward bringing together the ad-supported alternative.
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