Netflix subscriber errors can be a blip – or a sign of difficult times to come
The Netflix's miss may be an anomaly, or it may mark the end of a thriving era for the streaming giant.
The company characterized the lack of new subscribers as a temporary blip and accused it of programming that "drove less growth in paid network, adding that we expected."
If true, Netflix can reverse course with an upcoming content slate that includes Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman", Michael Bays "6 Underground" and the return of some of his acclaimed hit series "The Crown" and " Orange is New Black, who could all encourage new sign-ups in the coming months.
But is all this prestige content enough to stave off the competition waiting for the gates? DIS ) Apple ( AAPL ) NBCUniversal and CNN's parent company, WarnerMedia, enter the market in the next year and bring their own slate of what they hope will be, must-watch TV. And some even run the shows they licensed to Netflix to use on their own streamer.
"Netflix must continue to make major investments and take greater risk of finding original hits to bring subscribers and hold them," said Jill Rosengard Hill, executive vice president of research-based media company Magid. It's challenging because "there's just so much good content out there," she said.
"WarnerMedia, Disney and NBCUniversal are now fully awake and preparing and improving their streaming product anywhere and anytime for consumers, Hill said.
" This is negative and I think we should look back on this quarter as one of the key moments in the Netflix story, "says Munster CNBC.
BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield has one more positive view.
"It is this notion that Netflix coincides, but it increased prices by about 20% and the number of subscribers was basically unchanged," Greenfield told CNN Business. "How many companies can increase the price by 20 % and continue to grow? "
The company said that "missed forecast was over all regions, but a bit more in regions with price increases."
In its letter to shareholders Wednesday, Netflix said that while the US paid membership was "mainly flat," the company expects to "return to more typical growth" in the third quarter. It expects to add another 7 million subscribers in the third quarter.
Deficiencies from quarterly tally are the return of the hit series "Stranger Things", which was launched on Netflix in the third quarter. It added 26.4 million unique viewers in the first four days after the release in the United States, according to Nielsen's data. It was "the most contemplated Netflix original series we've ever analyzed," according to the community database.
