From Shane Conto

What happened to Netflix? It is all part of the nature of business to see a trail blazer like Netflix (who shaped what streaming services would be) take its knocks of the companies that followed. The competition has seen the failings of Netflix and can learn from their mistakes without the financial burden of it. Naturally, other companies would enter the industry and start squeezing away market share. But there is so much more happening with Netflix of note. Their reputation amongst consumers has become poisoned by ill-advised business practices. Their quality is questioned on a regular basis. There is a look of room to work in order to fix this present problem.

What is the hardest move for them to do? Backtrack. Netflix has received plenty of ill-will due to some decisions related to price and profiles. The pricing for Netflix is steadily rising and if they don’t watch it, they will price out all of their users. They need to start dropping this back down to below that $15 mark. Once you get above that, there has to be a premium feel (which Netflix does not have). How can they afford to drop down the prices? I will get to that later. But it is the issues circling account sharing. These new stricter rules are making consumers mad and wanting to leave. If this was a real industry wide issue, other streamers would follow suit. But they are not and Netflix looks like the bad guys. They need to backtrack and call off those decisions to keep consumer favor. 

What is the most overwhelming aspect of this streaming giant? The library that they have is insane. The amount of content that they put out is ridiculous. There are 60-80 new shows or films every single month. You heard that right. Some months it is even closer to 100. How can you even make it through all that content? You cannot. You would need to watch Netflix and only Netflix. No other streamers or any other kind of entertainment. Maybe that is the goal of Netflix but it is horribly misguided. Drowning your audience in content is not a wise move. 

But is it time for Netflix to change with the times? This might be a controversial suggestion…but they really need to move towards weekly releases. Binging was engineered and popularized by Netflix and it was fresh and exciting. That has long since passed and with so much competition, no one discusses their content for more than a few days. Disney+ keeps the culture eye on them for multiple months with their Marvel and Star Wars content. Netflix? The last season of Stranger Things had the attention for a week or two before it was time to move on. They are losing the battle for attention and every other streaming service is playing the new/old game to keep that buzz going. 

But what will make the biggest impact? Changing their content. I loved The Irishman. But should Netflix (which does not gain box office revenue or any form of direct revenue of its projects) be spending $200 million on a Scorsese film who is not necessarily a box office tycoon. Red Notice cost the same and it was a forgotten action flick that no one even talked about. The budgets are getting inflated and Netflix does not have traditional ways of creating revenue causing plenty of bombs. The overall quality of their content is also terrible. 90% of their content is mediocre or forgettable…or just plain bad. Focus on less. Elevate the quality. Manage the budgets. Also invest in releasing their best work into theaters where they can make that extra money. Glass Onion would have killed it if given more than a week in theaters. 

What is the kind of content they need to make? Netflix has an opportunity to increase their reputation by filling the void Warner Bros used to be. They would be the place for directors to play and make their films. Netflix can be that place. That would put them in more awards consideration which would elevate their positioning as a serious streaming destination. Release them in theaters and then drop them on Netflix. Win in both ways! They desperately need to focus more on quality and less on quantity. Commit to less series and make sure to give them a chance. They cancel so many shows after one season and deliver three more series to replace them. They also try way too hard to diversify their content by buying up just as many international projects as they are producing themselves. There are just too many films and series to keep track of. It is nearly impossible to make it all work. But one key they need to regain is the presence of popular syndicated shows. The Office and Friends leaving were harmful to the service in such a pronounced way. They need to figure out some ways to regain some of those popular properties. 

Will Netflix turn things around? As we wrap up, let’s just confirm one thing. Netflix is still at the top of the heap in market share. So they still have a handle. But the issue is how much they are slipping. They are losing to Prime Video (who is an afterthought to free shipping). If it wasn’t for the turmoil at Warner Bros, MAX would have already surpassed them by a lot. Netflix is in trouble but they still have the time and potential to turn it around. Netflix ruled the roost and they can do it again.

Follow Shane