0/5

Netflix growth slows

Streaming giant adds 4.95 million new subscribers, fewer than the 5.2 million it had forecast.

Netflix has grown slower than it expected in the first three months of the year, adding 4.95 million new subscribers in the quarter, fewer than the 5.2 million it had forecast.

In the US, the firm added a third fewer new members than the same period a year ago, while overseas members fell 22%.

Netflix blamed the drop partly on shifting some of its popular shows to the second quarter of the year.

The firm said its House of Cards series, which last year debuted in the first quarter but for this year has been pushed into the second quarter, was the main reason for the lower-than-expected subscriber growth.

Netflix said it still expected to add 8.15 million new members in total for the first half of the year, just below the 8.42 it added in the first half of last year.

Source: BBC

12 Responses

  1. I think the moves to more actively block VPNs and the user revolt against this also has something to do with it.

    I shouldn’t have to run 2 wifi gateways in my house, one for my privacy, one for netflix, but I do.

  2. Odd, I have quite a different view of Netflix: I have it mainly for the back catalog of older shows, both shows I’ve never watched and to re-visit show I have, new shows that get added gradually season by season don’t interest me that much – with the exception of the Marvel shows. I’ve found plenty to watch and I’ve never considered cancelling.

    1. I tend to agree with your view. I’ve been able to catch up on shows that I had watched a number of years ago that I never quite finished so it’s been quite handy in that regard (currently on season 3 of Lost. I never got that far when it was on Free to Air!).

      I do enjoy some of the Netflix originals aswell and the international deals that both Netflix/Stan have where episodes are Same Day is a fantastic trend that will obviously become a more frequent thing in the years to come and will likely become the norm, I feel.

  3. I like Netflix but there isn’t enough content for me to subscribe all the time. I haven’t subscribed since summer and that was great because I had heaps of stuff to watch some new, some accumulated. Even though I really want to see designated survivor which returned in march one show is not enough to resubscribe so I’m holding off till there is more content worth resubscribing for. Its fine for Netflix to be making niche shows but its the mainstream stuff like Gilmore girls and fuller house that gives Netflix new eyeballs.

    1. Just discovered Netflix has added Chesapeake shores to its catalogue. I really want to see this so now I have another show to subscribe for. Keep the new shows coming.

        1. I wouldn’t expect you to know everything added to Netflix. I don’t think its humanely possible for anyone too. I regularly check additions and realised when I made my original comment that I hadn’t checked in a while and that’s when I noticed. I’ve actually been reading the Chesapeake shores books hoping Netflix would get the series and its great to see they have.

  4. Well thats the dilemma for Netflix, it cant just ride on the popularity of a minority of well received shows it has to produce consistent quality products that suit viewer demand in all it’s viewing regions.I suspect that it may not be long before some advertising imposts may arrive as Netflix matches Apple for recent release movies, especially when the studios are looking to stream movies within days of theatrical release.

    1. That would imply that the number of it’s subscribers will now begin to decrease. Nearly five million more people subscribed in Jan to Mar this year. I think you’ll find that this is merely a slight slowing of growth rather than a cessation.

Leave a Reply