Netflix stock has suffered a major blow from the loss of 200,000 subscribers during the January – March 2022 period. The over-the-top (OTT) giant is one of the most famous entertainment platforms across the world, yet demand for its services is going down. It is worth noting that stopping services in Russia has also contributed to the fall in subscribers by a significant amount.
Netflix has estimated that it might lose around 2 million more users in the April – June 2022 quarter. The company is trying its fair share of methods to keep users hooked to the platform, but things just aren’t working out. It feels like Netflix doesn’t understand the different markets it is delivering content in properly.
What a user pays for Netflix in a quarter in India could get him/her yearly subscriptions to multiple entertainment platforms. If you are in India and are getting the premium access of Disney+ Hotstar or Amazon Prime, you would have to pay Rs 1500 for a yearly subscription. However, there’s no similar yearly model available with Netflix.
Netflix charges its customers on a monthly basis, and its top-tier plan, which offers content in the best quality, costs Rs 649 per month in India. This is close to 50% of what users have to pay for getting a yearly subscription to other platforms. This is a big issue that Netflix needs to address.
Another big issue with Netflix that I think a lot of people face is the problem of choosing something to watch. While Netflix has made efforts to tell people what’s in the top 10 ranks in their country, it isn’t exactly solving the whole problem.
There’s just so much content inside Netflix that users sometimes can’t help but feel overwhelmed about what they can watch. Almost every day, there’s something new coming on the platform. A user can’t help but wonder what’s the cost of the time they are paying for watching something which could have a better alternative on the same platform. For example, if I am watching Ozark, I can’t help but wonder, could I have given the same amount of time to another show on Netflix which falls in the same genre.
Now the same problem might come with other platforms, but the issue, particularly with Netflix, is too many alternatives than what most users would like.
To solve this, Netflix started recommending shows to people. This might have worked to a certain extent. But the rise of other OTT platforms with a different content strategy has changed things in the market.
Especially if you have got the Disney+ Hotstar which airs all the Marvel and Disney movies and TV shows along with content from other quality production houses, you wouldn’t want to pay so much for Netflix.
Netflix wants revenues to keep coming regularly, but the company can definitely look at a quarterly subscription model, at least if not a yearly one which is slightly more affordable on a monthly basis.
Further, Netflix needs to do something that Disney+ Hotstar is doing. The platform needs more regional content. There’s one thing that Netflix did right, and it was to add anime and Korean content. Other platforms are lagging a bit in this regard.
At the end of the day, Netflix is also an old platform. It is something that a lot of users are grown bored of. The platform added Games which, to be honest, aren’t the best difference-maker. To compete in a market such as India, where the users are very price-sensitive, Netflix needs to deliver something better and different than what other OTT platforms are doing.
To start with, the company can relook into bringing a new UI (user interface) to its platform. It’s a lot of work and involves a huge cost, but it might be a step in the right direction.
The TV shows and movies that are coming into Netflix also need to be promoted better. There are so many titles that have come into the platform that a lot of people are unaware of. This doesn’t happen with the shows that are present on other OTT platforms.
Things aren’t all bad for Netflix. The OTT giant is still a big and popular platform despite the fall in the number of users. It can make a strong comeback with more regional content, listening to what users want, and offering long-term subscriptions models.
After Sacred Games, Netflix hasn’t really delivered a big local TV show or movie in India. This is something that the platform needs to consider and work upon.
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