Netflix Financial Woes

[Totenkindly]

Netflix Loses $54 Billion in Market Cap After Biggest One-Day Stock Drop Ever

Netflix shares fell to a four-year-plus low as investors reacted to the streamer's first subscriber loss in more than 10 years.

variety.com

Netflix shares drop 25% after service loses 200K subscribers

Netflix suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade, causing its shares to plunge 25% in extended trading amid concerns that the pioneering streaming service may have already seen its best days

abcnews.go.com

Yeah, I don't think blaming it on "password sharing" really cuts it. Yes, password sharing is an issue (albeit one they benefited from at least in terms of marketing, getting people hooked on their shows), but some of the people sharing passwords would simply not get Netflix if they did not piggyback on another account. It's not like that is unrealized revenue, only a percentage of it is -- the folks who are actually willing and able to pay if they could not get something for free.

1. Competition is much stiffer. Amazon and Apple and Hulu and Paramount and other subscription services are eating into their base, people actually have OPTIONS nowadays and only a limited amount of revenue. So selection and revenue is going to matter more than it used to when Netflix was the big kid on the block. Some people just don't have the budget for multiple streaming networks.

2. You can't continue to expand once you devour the market. There's always a capping point as the rate of growth slows and you have to transition to other forms of revenue.

3. Their quality is not actually that great. I remember in the beginning that a Netflix series meant high quality. Early House of Cards? etc. It was a huge deal when Marco Polo came out to ho-hum reviews -- people were surprised that Netflix had made a series that wasn't that great quality-wise. Netflix has since flipped that on its head and is actually known more as pumping out total garbage to inundate the market place -- their practice is quantity, not quality nowadays, and a lot of it is reality-oriented crap. It's all flash in pan stuff that won't have longevity... and there is a LOT of it. Also a lot of generic crime reality shows. Guess what? Stranger Things might be popular but I can't say it's actually that great -- I've seen all three seasons and it was enjoyable to pass the time on first pass, but I could have quit watching it without really missing it, it's like a Stephen King / Tales from the Darkside knockoff that is obviously a knockoff and not as good as the kitschy nostalgic pop culture its ripping off. At least it helped the careers of Winona Ryder and David Harbour and Maya Hawke, I guess.

4. They throw a lot of money into things in what seems to be a haphazard way. For example, spending $30 million per episode of Season 4 of Stranger Things? Really? If it's an eight-episode season, that makes it a $240 million movie so to speak... and quality wise it's really only like a $40-50 million movie at best. Maybe they wouldn't be fucking broke if they actually spent money in fiscally responsible ways, like regular people are required to do? They also cloak most of their budgeting in mystery. (I can't find the budget for Hill House or Bojack Horseman or Mindhunter with a simple search.) For every decent series we get, we get a bunch of schlock as well -- and some of the reality based stuff is just hearsay and rumor crap that muddies the waters of public discussion. Series that seem to be enjoyed get cut, others continue. [Look at this whole Cowboy Bebop fiasco -- Netflix putting all its public eggs into this basket, without really being tapped into the fan base -- and then folding when challenged after making their investment.] Who is making the decisions? Or is it a matter of too much money and too many hydra heads making decisions? Well, sounds like "too much money" is not a problem they will have much longer.

5. No real identity anymore. Zillions of new shows and variety all over the map in terms of quantity and quality. Who really knows what a Netflix show is? There is no identity. it's just one huge catch-all pot of whatever they think will make them revenue this year.

6. I can't say their new binge-watching tech is really that enjoyable. Sick of having to constantly FORCE my show to watch the credits and listen to the ending music, scrambling for the control to keep it from skipping ahead. I also can't bump or move the remote if I have it on pause because the show will just start playing again. Wow, thanks Netflix -- that exertion of saving me a thumbpress is life-saving, maybe that's why we are all couch-potatoes. Maybe I don't WANT the show to start again from Pause until I actually hit the button consciously?

 

[ceecee]

I've been a subscriber for 9 years, well before there were so many other options. I canceled at the beginning of this month and told them exactly why. In the end, I don't care for strong arm tactics, certainly not from a service that I can replace with something better, cheaper and less self-righteous.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

i love how these types of media companies and shit always blame customers and the little guy first for the side effects of their poor decision making. reminds me of when the record industry blamed the decline in sales first on cassette tapes and later on file sharing, not on their failure to adapt to new technologies or comsumers' disinterest in increasingly stale and formulaic sounding pop music.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

anyway, i only hang around for cobra kai. Of course I just started Better Call Saul, but I am pretty sure that is available on AMC Plus as well.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

i love how these types of media companies and shit always blame customers and the little guy first for the side effects of their poor decision making. reminds me of when the record industry blamed the decline in sales first on cassette tapes and later on file sharing, not on their failure to adapt to new technologies or comsumers' disinterest in increasingly stale and formulaic sounding pop music.en yo

Yes, because when you have wealth and power in America, your fuckups are always other people's fault, and never your own. Personal responsibility is totes important tho.