There’s nothing more frustrating than having hit shows, great ratings, but lousy financial results. No, I’m not talking about the plight that many broadcast radio companies are experiencing. It turns out there’s another media brand going through similar growing pains.
Netflix
That’s right. Despite their big hits, their many awards, and the fact they now dominate the television conversation, Netflix just posted its worst quarterly results in years. And yet, when it comes to programming, it’s hard to think of another network (or platform) enjoying more success.
Chances are good that over this past steamy weekend, you turned up the AC, and fired up Netflix on your TV, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. And the new season of Stranger Things is off to an amazing start – not just in viewership, but in buzz. Everywhere, the 80’s nostalgia that permeates the show has captured the nostalgia zeitgeist. Netflix claims viewership since the show dropped over the July 4th holiday weekend set records:
.@Stranger_Things 3 is breaking Netflix records!
40.7 million household accounts have been watching the show since its July 4 global launch — more than any other film or series in its first four days. And 18.2 million have already finished the entire season.
— Netflix US (@netflix) July 8, 2019
And yet, Netflix missed its financial projections, as reported in their quarterly earnings call last week. Despite earning $4.9 billion in Q2, subscribership in the U.S. actually dropped, sending their stock price plummeting.
The network now has competitive pressure from the likes of Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, soon Disney Plus, and other players vying to get into the lucrative video streaming distribution business. And a price increase in January may have caused some turbulence as well.
So, the inevitable questions arose – how long before Netflix starts slipping in commercials during shows?
After all, product placement (just watch Stranger Things) has become a lucrative “side car” as CEO Reed Hastings pointed out during an investor briefing. In fact, the Netflix founder insists we “think about product partnerships as a character” in shows.
That’s a new one. So, could commercials be far away?
Apparently not, according to the statement released by the company in conjunction with its financials:
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