Streaming giant Netflix is continuing to shed subscribers after fielding complaints about “woke” content and other issues.
Netflix lost 1.3 million U.S. and Canadian customers during the second quarter of 2022, according to a report this week. Netflix had 74.58 million memberships in the first quarter of 2022 and dropped down to 73.28 million during the second quarter.
The total number of Netflix users worldwide decreased by 970,000 despite several other regions seeing subscription growth. Although it lost more customers than 200,000 in Q1 2022, this represents a victory for Netflix because it had anticipated losing up to 2 million people.
The primary cause of this loss appears to be Netflix’s frequent price increases, however. In January, Netflix raised the prices of all of its plans. Standard HD plans went up from $13.99 to $15.49, 4K plans went up from $17.99 to $19.99, and the entry-level standard definition plan went up from $8.99 to $9.99.
Despite the drop in U.S. subscribers, revenue increased by 9% year over year, which Netflix claims is due directly to a rise in the average revenue per subscriber. Netflix anticipates adding one million new customers in the third quarter of 2022, thanks to Mac Rumors who grabbed data from this report.
However, far-left content is also causing a flight away from the streamer. In May, the New York Post reported:
We’re finally getting to a point where Americans have had enough of woke speech policing and censorship. Someone just needs to tell the Biden administration.
…Netflix issued a long memo detailing the company culture it hopes to foster: The streaming service lays out that it produces a variety of content and won’t allow its employees to cut programming.
Netflix lets “viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices.”
And if the employee doesn’t like it, there’s the door. “Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.” Netflix employees famously protested Dave Chappelle’s stand-up comedy special last year.
In order to maintain its revenue growth, Netflix says that it is concentrating on developing monetization. The business attributes its subscriber loss to the adoption of connected TV, account sharing, and competition.
Early in 2023, a more affordable, ad-supported tier is planned, and it may entice some Netflix users who have given up because of the service’s escalating expenses. The 100 million+ households that now enjoy, but do not directly pay for, Netflix are being worked on, according to Netflix.
In Latin America, Netflix is now experimenting with a $3 cost to add a second household to a Netflix plan.
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