In turn, Netflix could return to the episodic publishing format to fight competition and retain subscribers.
Netflix is struggling. After experiencing phenomenal growth in recent years, the SVoD service is now showing mixed results. The number of subscribers is no longer growing as quickly as expected and competition is fierce with the arrival of Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+. Enough to push the Los Gatos firm to reinvent itself and to deny its founding principles.
Goodbye binge-watching?
According to Peter Csathy, founder of a consulting firm dedicated to the media interviewed by CNBC, Netflix is considering reviewing its method of publishing series. Currently, the platform broadcasts its series season by season, which has made it possible to break with the old television model where you had to wait a week or more to watch a new episode. This is one of the keys that made Netflix’s reputation and allowed it to grow so quickly.
But in a competitive world, it’s important to communicate your strengths, and the main strength of an SVoD platform is its content. While a series like Stranger Things (on Netflix) is talked about a week or two after the publication of a new season, the series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi (on Disney+) goes back to both the press and on social networks every week, with each new episode broadcast. A difference in strategy that plays on the image of the services.
2022, an essential shift for Netflix
After its loss of subscribers, Netflix is trying everything to bail out its coffers. Regular price increases and expansion of its catalog with the integration of games are the first bricks of a new business model. By the end of the year, we would also have to deal with a new package including advertisements, the end of account sharing – free – between friends or even the broadcasting of live programs. It almost feels like being on TV…
It remains to be seen whether this strategy will pay off for Netflix. The price of the subscription is already starting to cool many users, while the Frandroid community does not want advertising, even at a reduced price. Continuing to frustrate its customers could well prove to be counterproductive.
As the sixth season of Peaky Blinders is out, be careful because movies and series will disappear from the Netflix catalog! We will have to hurry to (re) see Glee, Gone Baby Gone…
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