After a delicate first quarter of 2022 where Netflix saw its number of subscribers drop, the SVoD platform intends to cancel certain projects related to the animation sector. This is to save money.
Netflix is in trouble and is looking to gain new momentum. The first quarter of 2022 was unprecedented for the Los Gatos firm, which for the first time in its history lost subscribers – 200,000 to be precise. Worse: the group estimates that two million additional people will leave the service by next June.
The fiercer competition coupled with multiple price hikes has obviously caused some users to unsubscribe. Faced with this, Netflix is thinking about solutions: a cheaper subscription, but including advertising is notably on the table, as is the establishment of paid account sharing.
Netflix cleans up
All of these elements put Netflix in an unfavorable situation: on the one hand, its financial valuation has fallen by $50 billion following the results of Q1 2022, on the other, the executives want to save money and start already downsizing its workforce and projects.
And according to information from The Wrap, management has particularly targeted the animation department. Phil Rynda, director of animation development at Netflix, and several members of his team would have quickly been thanked by the American company.
In addition, several animation projects developed in-house would also have been abandoned, including an adaptation of Two Rascals (Roald Dahl), a series based on the comic bone (Jeff Smith) and a project by the name of Toil and Trouble (Lauren Faust).
Finally, Bright 2 would also be sidelined. The sequel to the first part released in 2017 puts the spotlight on a certain Will Smith, who recently made the media headlines following his famous slap during the Oscars ceremony. But according to Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shawthis decision would have nothing to do with the act of the actor.
Find the right balance
It is clear that Netflix is working on economic alternatives on several scales: on the one hand, the SVoD platform will try to retain, or even attract new subscribers, thanks to new subscription offers still in the reflection phase. On the other, it’s time to abandon projects to bail out its coffers.
Be careful all the same to maintain an offer of varied and attractive content, at the risk of disinteresting its user base.
According to the statements of Reed Hastings, Netflix would work on a new, more affordable subscription… which would however contain advertisements in return. In the idea, could such a formula interest you? This is the subject of our survey…
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