What Do Netflix’s Current Problems Mean For Its Future?

The streaming giant Netflix hasn’t had the best of times recently. The once unstoppable company has had more than its fair share of negative publicity this year. It’s been no stranger to bad publicity and has subsequently experienced a loss of subscribers. By June of this year, it had 220.67 million subscribers, which was 1 million less than in March and 1.2 less than in December. Let’s look at how the major streaming services are faring this year.

A Brief History of Netflix

Netflix has been around since 1997. It was founded as a mail-based rental business and allowed people to rent DVDs. At the time, there were only 925 DVDs in Netflix’s collection. This was very early in the history of DVDs, and there weren’t many that Netflix didn’t rent.

The company suffered losses for a few years, but by 2005 it had grown substantially, shipping over a million DVDs a day and making huge profits. It wasn’t until 2007 that the company’s online streaming service that we know and love today was launched. Initially, it was very small, with its library consisting of only about 1,000 movies.

Over the years, Netflix’s streaming service continued to grow. It continued acquiring more third-party content and started producing its own content. There’s a huge variety of top-rated films and TV shows available on the platform, from blockbusters and indie releases to limited TV series and longer, multi-season productions. Take a look at our pick of the 11 best Netflix movies to see what is available.

Netflix in 2022

As mentioned earlier, Netflix reported a loss of subscribers in March, then a bigger one in June. This is the first time in the streaming platform’s history that it’s lost subscribers. There are several reasons behind this.

First, there’s the fact that Netflix shut down its services in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in a loss of 700,000 subscribers. There’s also controversy surrounding some content released in recent years, such as the film Cuties, which was accused of sexualising children. There are also general issues, such as long-time subscribers struggling to find new content to watch, people cutting back on spending, and the saturated streaming market.

What Does the Future Hold?

Netflix has had to cut down on its staffing in response to its market value crashing following the announcements of subscriber losses. In May, it let go of 150 employees plus dozens of part-time employees and contracts; a further 300 staff members were fired the following month. Even though approximately 11,000 people are working for Netflix, the firings are still significant.

So how does this affect Netflix and its future? It’s been reported that many of the people the streaming giant fired were working on projects aimed at minority communities. Some were also involved with content dedicated to social justice. It seems that Netflix is prioritising content with a broader appeal and that it’s prepared to cut content that may not attract too many viewers.

In an effort to attract more subscribers, Netflix plans on introducing a cheaper, ad-supported option. Hopefully, this will appeal to those who stopped subscribing because of money concerns or those who have never subscribed again because of money-related problems.

One thing you can’t watch on Netflix, unfortunately, are live events, such as live sports, like the upcoming FIFA World Cup, scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November – 18 December. Many people are excited about this and are keen to place bets, hoping to make some money. Join in the action and find out where and how to bet on your favourite teams during the tournament. You can access complete betting guides on the World Cup Golden Ball, which will give you insight into player and team performance and indicate the best betting sites to use. That means excellent odds on both the favourites and the longshots – and a generous welcome bonus or World Cup promotion can also help boost your returns. While waiting for the championships to start, why not watch some football-related shows and movies on Netflix? Maybe one day in the future, Netflix will begin streaming live sports, too, to attract new subscribers!

Conclusion

Netflix is still spending $17 billion on original TV shows and movies this year, which is roughly on par with what it spent last year. There’s a wealth of Netflix original content that’s going to be coming out this year and beyond. Yes, the company might have had some negative publicity and suffered losses, but it’s still a massive streaming platform.

Netflix is so big that its recent bad headlines shouldn’t affect it too much. There will still be loads of original content coming out in the near future, including the fifth and final season of Stranger Things and the second season of Squid Game.