Tag: Netflix Inc

Netflix nights still come wrapped in red-and-white envelopes

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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Netflix’s trailblazing DVD-by-mail rental service has been relegated as a relic in the age of video streaming, but there is still a steady — albeit shrinking — audience of diehards like Amanda Konkle who are happily paying to receive those discs in the iconic red-and-white envelopes.

“When you open your mailbox, it’s still something you actually want instead of just bills,” said Konkle, a resident of Savannah, Georgia, who has been subscribing to Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service since 2005.

It’s a small pleasure that Konkle and other still-dedicated DVD subscribers enjoy but it’s not clear for how much longer. Netflix declined to comment for this story but during a 2018 media event, co-founder and co-CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings suggested the DVD-by-mail service might close around 2023.

When — not if — it happens, Netflix will shut down a service that has shipped more than 5 billion discs across the U.S. since its inception nearly a quarter century ago. And it will echo the downfall of the thousands of Blockbuster video rental stores that closed because they couldn’t counter the threat posed by Netflix’s DVD-by-mail alternative.

The eventual demise of its DVD-by-mail service has been inevitable since Hastings decided to spin it off from a then-nascent video streaming service in 2011. Back then, Hastings floated the idea of renaming the service as Qwikster — a bungled idea that was so widely ridiculed that it was satirized on “Saturday Night Live.” It finally settled on its current, more prosaic handle, DVD.com. The operation is now based in non-descript office in Fremont, California, located about 20 miles from Netflix’s sleek campus in Los Gatos, California.

Shortly before breakup from video streaming, the DVD-by-mail service boasted more than 16 million subscribers, a number that has now dwindled to an estimated 1.5 million subscribers, all in the U.S., based on calculations drawn from Netflix’s limited disclosures of the service in its quarterly reports. Netflix’s video streaming service now boasts 223 million worldwide subscribers, including 74 million in the U.S. and Canada.

“The DVD-by-mail business has bequeathed the Netflix that everyone now knows and watches today,” Marc Randolph, Netflix’s original CEO, said during an interview at a coffee shop located across the street from the post office in Santa Cruz, California.

The 110-year-old post office has become a landmark in Silicon Valley history because it’s where Randolph mailed a Patsy Cline CD to Hastings in 1997 to test whether a disc could be delivered through the U.S. Postal Service without being damaged.

The disc arrived at Hastings’ home unblemished, prompting the duo in 1998 to launch a DVD-by-mail rental website that they always knew would be supplanted by even more convenient technology.

“It was planned obsolescence, but our bet was that it would take longer for it to happen than most people thought at the time,” Randolph said.

With Netflix’s successful streaming service, it might be easy to assume that anyone still paying to receive DVDs through the mail is a technophobe or someone living in a remote part of the U.S. without reliable internet access. But subscribers say they stick with the service so they can rent movies that are otherwise difficult to find on streaming services.

For Michael Fusco, 35, that includes the 1986 film “Power” starring a then-youthful Richard Gere and Denzel Washington, and 1980′s “The Big Red One” starring Lee Marvin. That’s among the main reasons he has been subscribing to the DVD-by-service since 2006 when he was just a freshman in college, and he has no plans to cancel it now.

“I have been getting it for almost half my life, and it has been a big part,” Fusco said. “When I was young, it helped me discover voices I probably wouldn’t have heard. I still have memories of getting movies and having them blow my mind.”

Tabetha Neumann is among the subscribers who rediscovered the DVD service during the throes of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 after running out of things to watch on her video streaming service. So she and her husband signed up again for the first time since canceling in 2011. Now they like it so much that they get the a plan that allows them to keep up to three discs at a time, an option that currently costs $20 per month (compared to $10 per month for the one-disc plan).

“When we started going through all the movies we wanted to see, we realized it was cheaper than paying $5 per movie on some streaming services,” Neumann said. “Plus we have found a lot of old horror movies, and that genre is not really big on streaming.”

Konkle, who has written a book about Marilyn Monroe’s films, says she still finds movies on the DVD service — such as the 1954 film “Cattle Queen of Montana,” featuring future U.S. President Ronald Reagan alongside Barbara Stanwyck and the 1983 French film “Sugar Cane Alley” — that help her teach her film studies classes as an associate professor at Georgia Southern University. It’s a viewing habit she doesn’t usually share with her classes because “most of my students don’t know what a DVD is,” said Konkle, 40, laughing.

But for all the DVD service’s attractions, subscribers are starting to notice signs of deterioration as the business has shrunk from producing more than $1 billion in annual revenue a year ago to an amount likely to fall below $200 million in revenue this year.

Katie Cardinale, a subscriber who lives in Hopedale, Massachusetts, says she now has to wait an additional two to four days for discs to arrive in the mail than she used to because they are shipped from a distribution center in New Jersey instead of Boston. (Netflix doesn’t disclose how many DVD distribution centers still operate, but there were once about 50 of them in the U.S.).

Konkle says more discs now come with cracks or other defects in them and it takes “forever” to get them replaced. And almost all subscribers have noticed the selection of DVD titles has shrunk dramatically from the service’s peak years when Netflix boasted it had more than 100,000 different movies and TV shows on disc.

Netflix no longer discloses the size of its DVD library, but the subscribers interviewed by the AP all reported the narrowing selection is making it more difficult to find famous films and popular TV series that once were routinely available on the service. Instead, Netflix now sorts requests for titles such as the first season of the award-winning “Ted Lasso” series — a release that can be purchased on DVD — into a “saved” queue, signaling it may decide to stock it in the future, depending on demand.

Knowing the end is in sight, Randolph said he will lament the death of the DVD service he brought to life while taking comfort its legacy will survive.

“Netflix’s DVD business was part-and-parcel of who Netflix was and still is,” he said. “It’s embedded in the company’s DNA.”

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November 26, 2022
What the Club is watching Tuesday — more cooler inflation, Dow stock earnings, price target hikes

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U.S. stock futures point to strong Wall Street open Tuesday as another government report points to slowing inflation.

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November 15, 2022
Investors may be whistling past the graveyard of a recession with latest rally in stocks

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Investors feeling giddy about last week’s sharp rally for stocks might want to give a listen to Tom Waits’ song, “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard” from 1978, to sober up for the dangers that still lurk ahead.

The surge in stocks catapulted the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.92%
almost back to the 4,000 mark on Friday, also lifting it to the biggest weekly gain in roughly five months, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Investors showed courage on signs of a slight slowing of inflation, but the fortitude also comes as a drearier backdrop for investors has been unfolding in plain sight. Massive layoffs at big technology companies, the dramatic implosion of crypto-exchange FTX, and the day-to-day pain of high inflation and skyrocketing borrowing on businesses and households are all taking a toll.

“We are not convinced this is the beginning of a new bull market,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CRFA Research. “We believe that we are headed for recession. That has not been factored into earnings estimates and, therefore, share prices.”

Stovall also said the stock market has yet to see the “traditional shakeout of confidence capitulation that we typically see that marks the end of the bear markets.”

From Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
+1.03%
to Lyft Inc.
LYFT,
+12.59%
to Netflix Inc.
NFLX,
+5.51%
there is a wave of major technology companies resorting to layoffs this fall, a threat that could sweep other sectors of the economy if a recession materializes.

Yet, information technology stocks in the S&P 500 jumped 10% for the week, while financials, which stand to benefit from higher interest rates, rose 5.7%, according to FactSet.

That could reflect optimism about the odds of a slower pace of Federal Reserve rate hikes in the months ahead, after sharp rate rises helped to undermine valuations and pull tech stocks dramatically lower in the past year. However, Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, and other Fed officials since the October inflation reading on Thursday have reiterated the need to keep rates high, until 7.7% annual rate finds a clearer path to the central bank’s 2% target.

The stock-market rally also might suggest that investors view continued mayhem in the crypto sector as contained, despite bitcoin
BTCUSD,
+0.42%
trading near its lowest level in two years and the shocking collapse in recent days of FTX, once the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Read: FTX’s fall: ‘This is the worst’ moment for crypto this year. Here’s what you should know.

What happens to stocks in recessions

Blows to the American economy rarely have been good for stocks. A look at seven past recessions, starting in 1969, shows declines for the S&P 500 as more typical than gains, with its most violent drop occurring in the 2007-2009 recession.

The more than 37% drop of the S&P 500 from 2007 to 2009 was the worst of its kind in a recession since the late 1960s.

Refinitiv data, London Stock Exchange Group

While a looming U.S. recession isn’t a foregone conclusion, CEOs of America’s biggest banks have been warning about the risks for months. JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon said in October that a “tough recession” could drag the S&P 500 down another 20%, even though he also said consumers were doing fine, for now.

Still, the steady stream of warnings about the recession odds have left many Americans confused and wondering if one can even happen without an increase in job losses.

Big moves lately in stocks also have been hard to decode, given the economy was shocked back to life in the pandemic by trillions of dollars in fiscal stimulus and easy-money policies from the Fed that are now being reversed.

“What I think goes unnoticed, certainly by the average person, is that these moves are not normal,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, about stock swings this week.

“It’s all about who is positioned how — and for what — and how much leverage they’re employing,” Martin told MarketWatch. “You get these outsized moves when people are offside.”

Here’s a view of the sharp trajectory upward of the S&P 500 since 2010, but also its dramatic drop this year.

Sharp rise of S&P 500 since 2010, but recent fall

Refinitiv Datastream

While Martin isn’t ruling out the potential for a seasonal “Santa Claus” rally heading into year-end, he worries about a potential leg lower for stocks next year, particularly with the Fed likely to keep interest rates high.

“Certainly what’s being priced in now is either no recession or a very, very mild recession,” he said .

However, Kristina Hooper, Invesco’s chief global market strategist, said the overarching story might be one of stocks sniffing out the first steps in a path to economic recovery, and the Fed potentially stopping its rate hikes at a lower “terminal” rate than expected.

The Fed increased its benchmark interest rate to a 3.75% to 4% range in November, the highest in 15 years, but also has signaled it could top out near 4.5% to 4.75%.

“If often happens that you can see stocks do well, in a less-than-good economic environment,” she said.

The S&P 500 rose 4.2% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
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+0.10%
gained 5.9%, posting its best weekly gain since late June, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 8.1% for the week, its best weekly stretch in seven months.

In U.S. economic data, investors will get an update on household debt on Tuesday, retail sales and homebuilder data on Wednesday, followed by jobless claims and housing starts data Thursday. Friday brings existing home sales.

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November 12, 2022
Disney plans targeted hiring freeze and job cuts, according to a memo from CEO Bob Chapek

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Disney plans to institute a targeted hiring freeze as well as some job cuts, according to an internal memo sent to executives.

“We are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze,” CEO Bob Chapek said in a memo to division leads sent Friday and obtained by CNBC. “Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.”

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He added: “As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review.” Disney has approximately 190,000 employees.

Chapek also told executives business travel should be limited to essential trips only. Meetings should be conducted virtually as much as possible, he wrote in the memo.

Disney is also establishing “a cost structure taskforce” to be made up of Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy, General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez and Chapek.

“I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams,” Chapek wrote. “We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time.”

The moves come after Disney reported disappointing quarterly results. Shares of the company fell sharply Wednesday, hitting a new 52-week low, before rebounding later in the week.

McCarthy said during Disney’s earnings call Tuesday that the company was looking for ways to trim costs.

“We are actively evaluating our cost base currently, and we’re looking for meaningful efficiencies,” she said. “Some of those are going to provide some near-term savings, and others are going to drive longer-term structural benefits.”

Disney’s streaming services lost $1.47 billion last quarter, more than double the unit’s loss from a year prior. McCarthy said losses will improve in 2023, and Chapek has promised streaming will become profitable by the end of 2024.

Other large media and entertainment companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix, have cut jobs this year as valuations have slumped. Disney hasn’t announced any plans to eliminate jobs.

The full memo can be read here:

Disney Leaders-

As we begin fiscal 2023, I want to communicate with you directly about the cost management efforts Christine McCarthy and I referenced on this week’s earnings call. These efforts will help us to both achieve the important goal of reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024 and make us a more efficient and nimble company overall. This work is occurring against a backdrop of economic uncertainty that all companies and our industry are contending with.

While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control—most notably, our costs. You all will have critical roles to play in this effort, and as senior leaders, I know you will get it done.

To be clear, I am confident in our ability to reach the targets we have set, and in this management team to get us there.

To help guide us on this journey, I have established a cost structure taskforce of executive officers: our CFO, Christine McCarthy and General Counsel, Horacio Gutierrez. Along with me, this team will make the critical big picture decisions necessary to achieve our objectives.

We are not starting this work from scratch and have already set several next steps—which I wanted you to hear about directly from me.

First, we have undertaken a rigorous review of the company’s content and marketing spending working with our content leaders and their teams. While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.

Second, we are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze. Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.

Third, we are reviewing our SG&A costs and have determined that there is room for improved efficiency—as well as an opportunity to transform the organization to be more nimble. The taskforce will drive this work in partnership with segment teams to achieve both savings and organizational enhancements. As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review. In the immediate term, business travel should now be limited to essential trips only. In-person work sessions or offsites requiring travel will need advance approval and review from a member of your executive team (i.e., direct report of the segment chairman or corporate executive officer). As much as possible, these meetings should be conducted virtually. Attendance at conferences and other external events will also be restricted and require approvals from a member of your executive team.

Our transformation is designed to ensure we thrive not just today, but well into the future—and you will hear more from our taskforce in the weeks and months ahead.

I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has weathered many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt we will achieve our goals and create a more nimble company better suited to the environment of tomorrow.

Thank you again for your leadership.

-Bob

WATCH: Disney had to get into streaming, but Meta just did too much hiring

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November 11, 2022
Disney misses on profit and key revenue segments, warns streaming growth could taper
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Bob Chapek, Disney CEO at the Boston College Chief Executives Club, November 15, 2021.

Charles Krupa | AP

Disney fell short of expectations for profit and key revenue segments during the fiscal fourth quarter Tuesday and warned strong streaming growth for its Disney+ platform may taper going forward.

Shares of the company fell roughly 8% in after-hours trading.

The company’s quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines, as both its parks and media divisions underperformed estimates. And Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy tempered investor expectations for the new fiscal year, forecasting 2023 revenue growth of less than 10%. The company reported fiscal 2022 revenue growth of 22%.

Revenue in Disney’s media and entertainment division fell 3% year over year to $12.7 billion during the fiscal fourth quarter, as the company’s direct-to-consumer and theatrical businesses struggled. Analysts had expected segment revenue of $13.9 billion, according to StreetAccount estimates.

The company also posted lower content sales because it had fewer theatrical films on the calendar and therefore, fewer films to place into the home entertainment market.

Here’s how the company performed in the period from July to September:

Earnings per share: 30 cents per share adj. vs. 55 cents expected, according to a Refinitiv survey of analysts

Revenue: $20.15 billion vs. $21.24 billion expected, according to Refinitiv

Disney+ total subscriptions: 164.2 million vs. 160.45 million expected, according to StreetAccount

Disney+ added 12.1 million subscriptions during the period, bringing the platform’s total subscriber base to 164.2 million, higher than the 160.45 million analysts had forecast, according to StreetAccount estimates.

However, growth is expected to slow in the fiscal first quarter, Disney executives warned on Tuesday’s conference call.

At the end of the fiscal fourth quarter, Hulu had 47.2 million subscribers and ESPN+ had 24.3 million. Combined, Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ have over 235 million streaming subscribers. Netflix, long the leader in the streaming space, had 223 million subscribers, according to the most recent tally.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in the company’s earnings release that Disney+ will achieve profitability in fiscal 2024. The direct-to-consumer division lost $1.47 billion during the most recent quarter. It also reported a 10% drop in domestic average revenue per user (ARPU) to $6.10.

The company is set to hike prices for the service in December and is planning an ad-supported tier, which is expected to boost revenue.

Chapek has been on a mission to better link the company’s divisions as one single organization and accelerate its direct-to-consumer strategy.

The company reported record results in its parks, experiences and products segment, Chapek said. The division, which includes the company’s theme parks, resorts, cruise line and merchandise business, saw revenue increase more than 34% to $7.4 billion during the quarter.

Still, Wall Street had slightly higher hopes for the division: Analysts were expecting revenue of $7.5 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Operating income for the division rose more than 66% to $1.5 billion as spending increased at its domestic and international parks and consumers booked voyages on its new cruise ship, the Disney Wish. The parks unit, specifically, brought in $815 million in operating income, well shy of the $919 million expected by StreetAccount.

Disney cited higher costs and said they were only partially offset by higher ticket revenue, driven by the introduction of the Genie+ and Lightning Lane guest offerings.

CFO McCarthy said Tuesday Disney is looking for “meaningful efficiencies” and actively examining the company’s cost base.

— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
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November 8, 2022
How the CNBC Stock World Cup 2022 works

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CNBC Stock World Cup: Round of 32 – Microsoft vs Visa – Visa wins | Naspers vs Softbank – Softbank wins

CNBC

From Apple to Tencent, LVMH to BHP, Naspers to Netflix.

As we head into the World Cup season, CNBC will be taking a look at some of the world’s biggest companies and pitting them against each other for the inaugural CNBC Stock World Cup 2022.

Starting with the initial stages on Nov. 7, we’ll ask experts from across the globe to rate each match-up based on one key question: If you invest today, which of the two companies going head-to-head will give you a greater total return over the next 12 months?

Thirty-two companies. One final champion.

Round of 32: Microsoft vs Visa – Visa wins | Naspers vs Softbank – Softbank wins

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November 6, 2022
From ‘Enola Holmes’ to ‘Extraction,’ Netflix bets on sequels

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It’s easy to forget that the Netflix original film department is still rather young. Five years ago, the streaming service didn’t even really have one. But things move quickly in the competitive streaming world, especially when starting from scratch.

Now with a robust library of proprietary and commercially minded films and characters, Netlifx is leaning into another important pillar of the movie business: Sequels.

They’ve dabbled before, with romantic comedies and teen-focused fare like “The Kissing Booth” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” but with a breakneck annual output, Netflix has now amassed enough of their own intellectual property to develop franchises in more genres, including adventure, mystery, comedy, action and thrillers, created by and starring some of the industry’s biggest names.

Kicking off with “Enola Holmes 2,” which is newly available to stream and sees Millie Bobby Brown back as the spirited young detective, Netflix has a slew of starry, high-profile follow-ups to some of their most successful films on the way. Later this year, “ Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery ” will bring Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc back to solve a new murder case on a private Greek island. In 2023 and beyond, Chris Hemsworth will reprise his role as black ops mercenary Tyler Rake in “ Extraction 2,” Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler will reunite for “Murder Mystery 2” and Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne will be back as immortals in “ The Old Guard 2.”

“Our goal was always to build stories and films and characters that we can return to,” said Netflix executive Kira Goldberg. “We’re finally at that moment, we’re feeling really good about it.”

Goldberg and Ori Marmur co-head the studio film team at Netflix under global film chief Scott Stuber. Both were veterans of traditional studio filmmaking, with Goldberg having come to Netflix from Fox, where she oversaw the likes of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “The Greatest Showman,” while Marmur came from producing films like “Escape Room” and “The Green Hornet.”

“We loved the idea that we could come to a studio that was starting from scratch,” Marmur said. “That just doesn’t happen, especially not at this scale.”

In the years they’ve been at Netfix, they’ve been able to draw on relationships they’ve made over the years and also forged new ones with directors, writers and talent they wanted to work with. They also knew they had to play catchup with the legacy studios that had a century of intellectual property at their disposal.

“It’s pretty impressive that sequels are a conversation and a reality,” said Mary Parent, who produced both “Enola Holmes” movies.

The sequel was put into motion soon after it hit Netflix in September 2020, with Brown, Henry Cavill, writer Jack Thorne and director Harry Bradbeer all on board. An estimated 76 million households streamed the lively detective story in its first four weeks.

“We mobilized really quickly,” Parent said. “You try not to take it for granted. And you try to raise the bar on yourself, to up the storytelling, up the stakes with everything that you loved about the first but also something new.”

The sequel strategy is not so unlike that at traditional studios: They want to keep viewers coming back for familiar characters. And it’s an equation that has proved effective with their most popular television shows, like “Stranger Things,”“Bridgerton,”“Squid Game” and “The Witcher.”

There may not be a set formula or mandate around what gets another film, but most are among Netflix’s most-watched originals. In their first four weeks, “The Old Guard” was seen by 78 million households and “Extraction” drew in 99 million households, according to data provided by Netflix.

“(‘Extraction’) obviously benefited from the timing of its release, which was at the early days of the pandemic,” said Mike Larocca, the co-founder and vice chairman of the Russo Brothers’ AGBO Productions. “But they were very supportive of the sequel script before that. We were prepared to move quickly and they didn’t wait for the performance.”

Part of the Netflix equation is looking at genres that either aren’t getting made at the big studio level anymore or aren’t getting enough audiences at the theaters to make them worth investing in frequently, like teen rom-coms. As a classic stunt-driven action movie, “Extraction,” Larocca said, was in that “dreaded middle that was getting killed theatrically.”

“People still want to see big, practical stunts and exotic locations and a really cool hero at the center,” Larocca said. “I think given their model, they’re able to make it at a higher budget than theatrical would have would have supported because their numbers look different.”

The notable exception is “Glass Onion,” as “Knives Out” did not originate at Netflix. But the streamer saw an opportunity in Rian Johnson’s fun murder mystery, which was a hit at the box office, and potential in spinning out more stories anchored by Craig’s shrewd detective. They shelled out $450 million for two sequels. There is also a “ Luther ” film in the works, based on the hit crime series, with Cynthia Erivo, and a re-imagining of “ Spy Kids,” with Robert Rodriguez on board to write and direct.

“They’ve really succeeded in creating an environment where I think people can do their best work,” Parent said. “They’re there to offer support but don’t create unnecessary obstacles. They don’t overly micromanage, which can sometimes kill creativity. They understand the balance … And the power of their platform is undeniable.”

At Netflix, Goldberg and Marmur have also found opportunities in working cross-functionally with other departments.

“When I worked at other traditional studios, I didn’t know who was in the series team. I didn’t know who worked in consumer products. There was never any communication,” Goldberg said. “Here, we get in a room together all the time. We strategize collectively.”

Case in point: When developing the graphic novel “BRZRKR” as a live-action film with Keanu Reeves, they also committed to an anime series so he could “have the best of both worlds” since the artwork was so important to him.

“We’re constantly trying to figure out how we can do things in different, innovative and cool ways,” Marmur said. “It’s not rare to have a conversation with a filmmaker about how their film can branch into other things.”

It has been a rollercoaster year for Netflix, but they’ve recovered from subscriber losses in the first half of the year and were back on top with gains made in Q3. Netflix now boasts 223 million subscribers, and is once again the world’s largest video streaming service. The Walt Disney Co. had briefly eclipsed Netflix in August when it reported its service had 221 million subscriptions, though there is some debate over how comparable the numbers are as Disney counts households that subscribe to its bundle package of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as three separate subscriptions.

The company is also days away from launching its first ad-supported plan that debuts in the U.S. and 11 other markets in early November. The new option will cost $7 per month in the U.S., less than half the price for Netflix’s most popular $15.50-per-month plan without commercial interruptions.

But Goldberg and Marmur say they’re just concerned with putting their heads down and making great films.

“They’ve come so far so fast, it’s incredible,” Larocca said. “The legacy studios have tremendous advantages in terms of IP that they can draw from. It’s fun to see them start building their own franchises. They’re making big swings.”

—-

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.

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November 6, 2022
As subscription prices rise, here’s what’s worth streaming in November 2022: ‘The Crown,’ ‘Willow,’ ‘Mythic Quest’ and more

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So here’s some bad news and some, well, slightly less bad news.

First, the bad-bad: Streaming prices are increasing almost across the board (Hulu and Apple TV+ rose in October, Disney+ will rise in December, while Netflix and Prime Video rose earlier this year), putting even more of a crunch on budget-conscious consumers.

But now the less bad: If you can put up with commercials, there are cheaper, ad-supported versions coming your way (Netflix on Nov. 3, Disney+ in December).

Of course, the other money-saving solution is to double down on a churn-and-return strategy and cut down on recurring subscriptions even more.

Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget, rating the major services as a “play,” “pause” or “stop” — similar to investment analysts’ traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell. We also pick the best content to help you make your monthly decisions.

Consumers can take full advantage of cord-cutting by churning and returning — adding and dropping streaming services each month. All it takes is good planning. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month, and keep an eye out for lower-priced tiers, limited-time discounts, free trials and cost-saving bundles. There are a lot of offers out there, but the deals don’t last forever.

Here’s a look at what’s coming to the various streaming services in November 2022, and what’s really worth the monthly subscription fee.

Netflix ($6.99 a month for basic with ads starting Nov. 3, $9.99 basic without ads, $15.49 standard without ads, $19.99 premium without ads)

Netflix has another really good month coming up.

“The Crown” (Nov. 9), returns for its fifth season, set this time in the 1990s as scandals involving Charles and Diana plaster London’s tabloids and the role of Britain’s monarchy in modern society is thrown into question. Imelda Staunton takes over the role of Queen Elizabeth, with Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip. Controversy has already erupted over the new season, which will include Diana’s tragic death, as some have spoken out about the show’s increasingly blurry line between truth and fiction. Pryce recently told Vanity Fair, ““The vast majority of people know it’s a drama,” not a documentary. And it’s a pretty good drama.

Netflix
NFLX,
-0.41%
hasn’t had much success developing original sitcoms, but is hoping to finally break through with “Blockbuster” (Nov. 3), a workplace comedy set at the last Blockbuster video store in America, starring network sitcom veterans Randall Park (“Fresh Off the Boat”) and Melissa Fumero (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”). There’s also “Wednesday” (Nov. 23), a horror-comedy series from Tim Burton starring Jenna Ortega as the terrifyingly snarky teen Wednesday Addams, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman playing her creepy and kooky parents, Morticia and Gomez; and the third and final season of the dark comedy “Dead to Me” (Nov. 17), starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, which returns after a two-and-a-half-year layoff.

On the drama side, there’s “1899” (Nov. 17), a mystery-horror series set aboard a transatlantic steamer ship at the turn of the last century, from the makers of the mind-bending German sci-fi series “Dark” — and if it’s even half as trippy and addictive, it’ll be terrific; Part 1 of the fourth season of the supernatural drama “Manifest” (Nov. 4), which Netflix rescued from NBC’s cancellation; and Season 6 of the soapy Spanish high-school drama “Elite” (Nov 18).

More: Here’s everything new coming to Netflix in November 2022, and what’s leaving

There’s also the timely documentary “FIFA Uncovered” (Nov. 9), digging into the scandal-plagued organization behind the World Cup; “Pepsi, Where’s My Jet” (Nov. 17), a documentary about a man who sued Pepsi in the 1980s to get a free Harrier fighter jet; the fifth installment of “The Great British Baking Show: Holidays” (Nov. 18); and the new standup comedy special from the outgoing “Daily Show” host, “Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would” (Nov. 22).

On the movie front, there’s “Enola Holmes 2” (Nov. 4), a sequel to the hit 2020 movie about Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister, played by Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”), as young detective Enola sets out to investigate her first case; “Slumberland” (Nov. 18), a comedy adventure about a young girl exploring the dreamworld, starring Mallow Barkley and Jason Mamoa; and Lindsay Lohan is back with a Christmas rom-com, “Falling for Christmas” (Nov. 10).

Who’s Netflix for? Fans of buzz-worthy original shows and movies.

Play, pause or stop? Play. When it’s at the top of its game, as it is again this month, Netflix is a must-have, at whatever price tier.

Disney+ ($7.99 a month)

The TV world has been abuzz about prequels for the past few months, but it’s all about sequels in November for Disney+.

The biggest of the bunch is “Willow” (Nov. 30), a follow-up series to the cult-favorite 1988 fantasy movie of the same name. The magical adventure is set 20 years after the events of the film, and Warwick Davis returns as farmer-turned-sorcerer Willow Ufgood, who leads an unlikely group of heroes on a quest to save their world. It should be fun for the whole family.

Disney
DIS,
+1.45%
also has “Disenchanted” (Nov. 18), a sequel to the 2007 hit movie “Enchanted.” The musical fantasy is set 10 years after the happily-ever-after ending, with Giselle (Amy Adams) questioning her happiness and inadvertently setting her two worlds askew. Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden and Maya Rudolph co-star. And then there’s “The Santa Clauses” (Nov. 16), as Tim Allen reprises his role of Santa Claus, who’s now facing retirement and looking for a replacement, in a new miniseries spinoff of the family-movie trilogy.

Also of note: “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” (Nov. 25), as Star-Lord and the gang kidnap Kevin Bacon; the live performance “Elton John: Live from Dodger Stadium” (Nov. 20), the pop icon’s final show in North America; and weekly episodes of “Dancing With the Stars” (season finale Nov. 21), the “Star Wars” prequel “Andor” (season finale Nov. 23) and “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” (season finale Nov. 30).

And heads up: Prices for the ad-free tier will jump to $10.99 a month in December, after Disney+ launches its ad-supported tier for $7.99 a month.

Who’s Disney+ for? Families with kids, hardcore “Star Wars” and Marvel fans. For people not in those groups, Disney’s library can be lacking.

Play, pause or stop? Play. There’s something for everyone in the household — even grumps who aren’t “Star Wars” fans can get into “Andor,” which absolutely works as a dark, gripping, spy thriller. Meanwhile, fans are realizing it just might be the best “Star Wars” series or movie ever made.

HBO Max ($9.99 a month with ads, or $14.99 without ads)

HBO Max is bringing back “The Sex Lives of College Girls” (Nov. 17) for its second season. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble (who also teamed on Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever”), the ensemble comedy about four college roommates picks up right after Thanksgiving break, with the girls organizing a “sex-positive” male strip show. It’s sharp, funny, and less cringey than its title suggests.

Then there’s “A Christmas Story Christmas” (Nov. 17), a nostalgic sequel to the 1983 classic, starring Peter Billingsley as a grown-up Ralphie who returns to his hometown to try to give his kids a perfect Christmas. It’s risky reviving such a beloved movie, and this could either be wonderful or terrible, there’s really no middle ground.

HBO Max also has a slew of documentaries, including “Love, Lizzo” (Nov. 24), about the pop superstar’s inspiring life story; “Shaq” (Nov. 23), a four-part docuseries chronicling the rise to superstardom of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal; “Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty” (Nov. 3), a true-crime series about a South Carolina lawyer’s scandalous fall; and “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” (Nov. 8), a film exploring the life, career and social impact of the greatest baseball player who ever played the game.

See more: Here’s everything new coming to HBO Max in November 2022, and what’s leaving

And every week brings new episodes of Season 2 of the very dark vacation comedy “The White Lotus,” Season 3 of “Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler” and Season 2 of the cult documentary “The Vow.”

Who’s HBO Max for? HBO fans and movie lovers.

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. “The White Lotus” and “The Sex Lives of College Girls” are both worth watching, but beyond that it’s kinda “meh” this month. And Max is too pricey for “meh.”

Amazon Prime Video ($14.99 a month)

Amazon
AMZN,
-6.80%
is bringing the star power in November, starting with the Western drama series “The English” (Nov. 11), starring Emily Blunt as an aristocratic Englishwoman who teams with a Pawnee scout (Chaske Spencer) on a mission to cross the violent 1890s American frontier. It looks stylish and bloody — and promising.

Meanwhile, James Corden and Sally Hawkins star in “Mammals” (Nov. 11), a dark comedy series about modern marriage; pop star-turned-actor Harry Styles stars in “My Policeman” (Nov. 4), a drama about forbidden romance that’s getting very “meh” reviews in its theatrical release; and Kristen Bell, Ben Platt and Allison Janney star in “The People We Hate at the Wedding” (Nov. 18), a raunchy comedy set at a dysfunctional family wedding.

More: Here’s what’s coming to Amazon’s Prime Video in November 2022

There’s also NFL Thursday Night Football every week, and new episodes of the intriguing sci-fi drama “The Peripheral,” which is giving very “Westworld”-but-slightly-less-confusing vibes.

Who’s Amazon Prime Video for? Movie lovers, TV-series fans who value quality over quantity.

Play, pause or stop? Pause. There’s good stuff here, but nothing that feels must-see.

Paramount+ ($4.99 a month with ads but not live CBS, $9.99 without ads)

Taylor Sheridan (“Yellowstone,” “1883,” “Mayor of Kingstown”) has another new series: “Tulsa King” (Nov. 13), starring Sylvester Stallone as a former New York mafia capo who gets freed from prison after 25 years and settles in Tulsa, Okla., to build a criminal empire of his own. Showrunner Terence Winter (“The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire”) knows a thing or two about mob shows, and this one could be good.

Paramount+ also has the spinoff series “Criminal Minds: Evolution” (Nov. 24), about an elite team of FBI profilers unraveling a network of serial killers; the family movie “Fantasy Football” (Nov. 25), about a girl who can magically control how her NFL-player dad performs on the field; and the series finale of “The Good Fight” (Nov. 10), which its creators promise will be “cataclysmic.”

There’s also the Thanksgiving Day Parade (Nov. 24) and a ton of live sports, including college football on Saturdays, NFL football on Sundays (and Thanksgiving Day), and group-stage matches for UEFA’s Champions and Europe leagues.

Who’s Paramount+ for? Gen X cord-cutters who miss live sports and familiar Paramount Global
PARA,
+3.37%
broadcast and cable shows.

Play, pause or stop? Pause. Besides its solid live-sports lineup, it’s a good time to catch up and binge “The Good Fight,” and “Tulsa King” could be worth a watch too.

Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, or $14.99 with no ads)

Hulu has a couple of interesting offerings in November, but nothing that screams must-see. Yet, at least.

FX’s “Fleishman Is in Trouble” (Nov. 17) stars Jesse Eisenberg as a newly divorced dad whose promiscuous dive into app-based dating is disrupted when his ex-wife disappears and leaves him with their kids. Claire Danes, Lizzy Caplan and Adam Brody co-star in the eight-episode drama, which is based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel.

There’s also “Welcome to Chippendales” (Nov. 22), a true-crime series starring Kumail Nanjiani as the immigrant founder of the 1980s male-stripper franchise, which chronicles his business empire’s rise and fall amid a blizzard of sex, drugs and violence.

Meanwhile, Adam McKay (“The Big Short”) and Billy Corben (“Cocaine Cowboys”) have the documentary “God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty” (Nov. 1), about the private life of Christian televangelist and former Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. and his very public downfall.

See: Here’s everything new on Hulu in November 2022 — and what’s leaving

There are also the final two episodes of “Atlanta” (series finale Nov. 10), whose fourth season has returned to brilliance after an underwhelming Season 3 over the summer, and new episodes every week of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.”

Who’s Hulu for? TV lovers. There’s a deep library for those who want older TV series and next-day streaming of many current network and cable shows.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. While you won’t regret paying for Hulu if you already do, there’s not a lot to lure new subscribers this month.

Apple TV+ ($6.99 a month)

Apple TV+ is too inconsistent to be worth the $2-a-month price hike that was just announced, so it’s best to strategically plan when to stream — wait until a good series or two are completed, for example, and binge them all in a month, then cancel. Repeat as needed.

And it actually is a decent month for Apple. Its second-best comedy, “Mythic Quest” Nov. 11), returns for its third season, with Ian (Rob McElhenny) and Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao) gearing up for war against their old videogame company. With a perfect blend of humor and heart, it’s one of the best workplace comedies on TV.

Meanwhile, Season 2 of “The Mosquito Coast” (Nov. 4) finds the fugitive Fox family finally hiding out in Central America, after a tedious premise-pilot of a first season that wasted good actors (Justin Theroux and Melissa George) and beautiful cinematography with nonsensical plot twists, while the action series “Echo 3” (Nov. 23) stars Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman as former soldiers trying to rescue a kidnapped scientist in the jungles of South America.

Apple
AAPL,
+7.56%
also has a pair of high-profile original movies: “Causeway” (Nov. 3), starring Jennifer Lawrence as a former soldier struggling to adjust to civilian life in New Orleans, co-starring Brian Tyree Henry, and “Spirited” (Nov. 18), a musical twist on “A Christmas Carol” told from the ghosts’ point of view, starring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.

Who’s Apple TV+ for? It offers a little something for everyone, but not necessarily enough for anyone — although it’s getting there.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. There’s just not enough to justify a month-to-month subscription. December is a better bet, with “Mythic Quest” and a new season of “Slow Horses” running concurrently.

Peacock (free basic level, Premium for $4.99 a month with ads, or $9.99 a month with no ads)

The World Cup from Qatar (Nov. 20-Dec. 18) will be broadcast on Fox and FS1, so cord-cutters are out of luck, unless you subscribe to a live-streaming service like Hulu Live or YouTube TV. However, Peacock will stream every match in Spanish, which could be a decent Plan B for soccer fans.

And that “it’ll-do-but-it’s-not-exactly-what-I’m-looking-for” description is the running theme for Peacock. November will bring a handful of originals that are unlikely to move the needle, subscriber-wise: There’s the musical-comedy spinoff series “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” (Nov. 23), starring Adam Devine; “The Calling” (Nov. 10), a crime drama about a religious cop, from David E. Kelley and Barry Levinson; the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (Nov. 24); and the streaming debut of Jordan Poole’s sci-fi/horror hit “Nope” (Nov. 18).

Sports-wise, Peacock has the National Dog Show (hey, it’s a competition!) on Nov. 24, NFL Sunday Night Football every weekend, a full slate of English Premier League matches through Nov. 13, and a ton of golf and winter sports.

Who’s Peacock for? If you have a Comcast
CMCSA,
-0.06%
or Cox cable subscription, you likely have free access to the Premium tier (with ads) — though reportedly not for much longer. The free tier is almost worthless, but the recent addition of next-day streaming of NBC and Bravo shows (like “Saturday Night Live” and “Real Housewives”) bolsters the case for paying for a subscription. Still, Peacock is still not really necessary unless you need it for sports.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. There’s not a lot that’s particularly enticing right now, even on the sports side.

Discovery+ ($4.99 a month with ads, or $6.99 with no ads)

More of the same in November for Discovery+, which is a feature, not a bug. Highlights include the vegan cook-and-chat show “Mary McCartney Serves It Up” (Nov. 1); “Tut’s Lost City Revealed” (Nov. 3), about a 3,000-year-old Egyptian city recently discovered by archaeologists; “Vardy vs Rooney: The Wagatha Trial” (Nov. 19), the inside story of the tabloid-fodder “Wagatha” scandal between the wives of English soccer stars; and Season 2 of the excellent CNN food series “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” (Nov. 30). Full disclosure: There are also a handful of sappy holiday movies guest-starring some HGTV and Food Network stars, but they look terrible and I expect better from you, a discerning reader/viewer.

Who’s Discovery+ for? Cord-cutters who miss their unscripted TV or who are really, really into “90 Day Fiancé.”

Play, pause or stop? Stop. Discovery+ is still fantastic for background TV, but it’s not worth the cost. Still, it should add value when the reconfigured Warner Bros. Discovery
WBD,
+3.68%
combines it with HBO Max next summer.

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October 30, 2022
The biggest tech stocks have lost $3 trillion in market cap the last one year

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FAANG stocks displayed at the Nasdaq.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

So here’s a good trivia question: Of the “FAANG” megacap tech stocks, which has lost the most market value over the past year?

Amid the earnings-related bloodbath so far this week, there have been huge losses. Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta have already posted their results, and tumbled in the wake of the reports. Thursday afternoon, Amazon and Apple are on tap.

A staggering $3 trillion in combined market cap has been lost in one year. Most of the losses have occurred across six of these stocks, but it’s hard to leave Apple off the list.

Remarkably, Apple shares have basically been flat – losing a measly $35 billion, by comparison.

It’s also worth realizing that the total losses would have been much worse had Netflix shares not rebounded.

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October 27, 2022
Is Meta a broken stock? Earnings will help answer some lingering questions

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October 26, 2022
Netflix’s message to shareholders: Focus on revenue and profit, not subscriber adds

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Netflix logo

Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Netflix has a message for investors: start focusing on revenue and profit, and stop obsessing about subscriber growth.

Netflix made its argument with several pointed comments in its quarterly shareholder letter. The world’s largest streamer said it will stop forecasting paid subscriber adds. The company’s rationale behind the change is to get investors focused on revenue instead of customer growth.

“We are increasingly focused on revenue as our primary top line metric,” Netflix wrote as it reported third quarter earnings Tuesday. “This will become particularly important heading into 2023 as we develop new revenue streams like advertising and paid sharing, where membership is just one component of our revenue growth.”

Netflix will continue to provide guidance for revenue, operating income, operating margin and net income — traditional metrics of profitability — and it will still report subscriber adds each quarter. It just won’t forecast what’s to come.

Part of the change is motivated by the increasingly wide array of revenue per user. A given subscriber could be paying $6.99 per month for Netflix’s new advertising tier, which debuts in the U.S. on November 3, or $19.99 per month for Netflix’s premium, no-ad service.

“Focusing on subscribers in our early days was helpful, but now that we have such a wide range of price points and different partnerships all over the world, the economic impact of any given subscriber can be quite different,” Spencer Wang, Netflix’s vice president of finance, said during the company’s earnings call Tuesday. “That’s particularly true if you’re trying to compare our business with our streaming services.”

Theoretically, Netflix’s advertising tier and coming crackdown on password sharing should reinvigorate subscriber growth. But Netflix, which gained 2.4 million subscribers in the third quarter on an “especially strong” content slate, led by “Stranger Things 4,” may see quarters with 10 million or more subscriber adds as a relic of the past.

Focusing on Netflix’s strengths

Instead of operating in a world filled with comparisons to a pandemic era fueled by surging growth, Netflix is attempting to steer investor focus to the fact that its streaming service actually makes money. Netflix directly addressed this point in the “Competition” section of its shareholder letter.

“It’s hard to build a large and profitable streaming business – our best estimate is that all of these competitors are losing money on streaming, with aggregate annual direct operating losses this year alone that could be well in excess of $10 billion, compared with our +$5-$6 billion of annual operating profit,” Netflix wrote.

In other words: Netflix is saying it has built a great streaming business, while Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast‘s NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, and others want to build a great streaming business. Netflix acknowledged some of their competitors may get there, through consolidation and price hikes.

This is a clear competitive advantage for Netflix, unlike subscriber adds, where Disney — earlier in its growth cycle, having launched Disney+ in 2019 — has the upper hand. Disney added 14.4 million Disney+ customers last quarter while Netflix lost 970,000.

Netflix shares surged after hours, rising 14%. The company is once again adding subscribers after losing customers in the first and second quarters. Next quarter, Netflix said it will add 4.5 million more customers.

But Netflix says we’re not supposed to be focused on that anymore. The question is whether investors will listen.

Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.

WATCH: Pleasant surprises in this market are most welcome, says Netflix investor

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October 18, 2022
Netflix snaps streak of subscriber declines and beats on earnings, stock jumps 15%

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Netflix Inc. added more than 2 million subscribers in the third quarter after stumbling into 2022 with two consecutive quarterly declines, a rebound that sent shares more than 15% higher in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Netflix
NFLX,
-1.73%
reported a net gain of 2.41 million subscribers in the third quarter, while analysts on average were forecasting 1.1 million net additions, according to FactSet. That follows a decline of roughly 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter and nearly a million in the second quarter, which has led the company to plan massive changes, including a cheaper, ad-supported streaming tier set to arrive in the fourth quarter.

In a letter to shareholders, Netflix executives said they expect 4.5 million new subscribers to join in the fourth quarter, with revenue forecast to grow to $7.78 billion from $7.71 billion a year ago. Analysts on average were estimating revenue of $7.97 billion and a net subscriber gain of 4 million for the fourth quarter, according to FactSet.

“After a challenging first half, we believe we’re on a path to reaccelerate growth,” executives wrote in the letter.

The news sent Netflix shares up about 15% in after-hours trading following the release of the results, after closing with a 1.7% drop at $240.86. The stretch of subscriber declines has filleted Netflix shares, which have swooned 60% so far this year while the broader S&P 500 index
SPX,
+1.14%
has declined 22.8%.

The streaming-video giant’s downturn after a pandemic-boosted surge has only intensified pressure from rival streaming services at Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
+1.18%,
Apple Inc.
AAPL,
+0.94%,
Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
+2.26%,
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
WBD,
+4.55%,
Comcast Corp.
CMCSA,
-0.23%
and Paramount Global
PARA,
+1.56%.

That didn’t stop Netflix executives from taking a pot shot at streaming rivals over profitability. “Our competitors are investing heavily to drive subscribers and engagement, but building a large, successful streaming business is hard — we estimate they are all losing money, with combined 2022 operating losses well over $10 billion, vs. Netflix’s $5 to $6 billion annual operating profit,” Netflix executives said in the shareholder letter.

A dramatic shift in the video-streaming climate, one in which Disney surpassed Netflix as market leader in July, has prompted a radical makeover at Netflix. Last week, the company announced its long-awaited advertising-supported tier, which debuts Nov. 3 in the U.S. for $6.99 a month. Another 11 countries, including Canada and Mexico, will get the service by Nov. 10. The company has also vowed a crackdown on shared accounts, and is pushing forward on gaming.

The advertising-supported tier directly acknowledges competition and the necessity of Netflix “adapting to the streaming landscape’s new normal,” Insider Intelligence analyst Ross Benes said in a note late Tuesday.

For more: Netflix lost its streaming crown to Disney. Here’s how execs expect to win it back.

Netflix announced third-quarter earnings of $1.4 billion, or $3.10 a share, down from $3.16 a share a year ago. Netflix revenue improved to $7.93 billion in the quarter from $7.48 billion in the same period a year ago, but missed diminished expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $2.14 a share on sales of $7.84 billion, estimates that had dipped in recent days.

Tuesday’s results follow some serious self-reflection among Netflix executives on how to stanch a decline in visits among subscribers that has led to cancellations. Co-CEO Reed Hastings has consulted with staff to find ways to make subscribers visit the platform more frequently, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News.

One such strategy is cracking down on multiple users sharing the same account. In the shareholder letter, Netflix said it has “landed on a thoughtful approach to monetize account sharing and we’ll begin rolling this out more broadly starting in early 2023.”

“After listening to consumer feedback, we are going to offer the ability for borrowers to transfer their Netflix profile into their own account, and for sharers to manage their devices more easily and to create sub-accounts (‘extra member’), if they want to pay for family or friends,” the letter said. “In countries with our lower-priced ad-supported plan, we expect the profile transfer option for borrowers to be especially popular.”

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October 18, 2022
Netflix sets $7 monthly price for its ad-supported service

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SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix next month will unveil the first version of its video streaming service with ads, giving cost-conscious viewers a chance to watch most of its shows at a steep discount in exchange for putting up with commercial interruptions.

The ad-supported service is scheduled to debut Nov. 3 as Netflix tries to reverse a drop in subscribers. It will cost $7 per month in the U.S., a 55% markdown from Netflix’s most popular $15.50-per-month plan, which is ad-free.

Netflix’s ad-supported option will also be rolling out in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and the U.K., according to a Thursday post by the company’s chief operating officer, Greg Peters.

Besides putting up with roughly four to five minutes of ads during each hour of viewing, Netflix subscribers who sign up for the cheaper service also won’t be able to download TV shows and movies to watch when their devices are offline. Peters also said a “limited” amount of programming available on the commercial-free service won’t be on the ad-supported version because of licensing issues.

Netflix’s 15-year-old streaming service has until now been commercial free, but the Los Gatos, California, company decided to head in a new direction six months ago after reporting its first loss in subscribers in more than a decade.

The customer erosion worsened a wrenching decline in its stock price that has wiped up more than $200 billion in shareholder wealth during the past 11 months. The shares rallied after Thursday’s announcement, but still have lost about two-thirds of their value since reaching their peak last November when the streaming service was still growing.

Through the first half of this year, Netflix lost 1.2 million subscribers, leaving it with nearly 221 million. Management in July predicted it would regain about 1 million of those subscribers during the summer months. The numbers for the July-September period are scheduled to be disclosed Tuesday.

Netflix is betting the low-priced option with ads will be particularly popular at a time that persistently high inflation is pressuring millions of households to curb their spending, particularly on discretionary items such as video streaming. The streaming market also has become crowded with tougher competition from the likes of Amazon, Apple and Walt Disney Co., which also is preparing to offer an ad-supported version of its service soon.

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October 16, 2022
In a first, Netflix’s ‘Glass Onion’ to play in major chains

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NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time, the major U.S. theater chains will play a Netflix release after exhibitors and the streaming service reached a deal for a nationwide sneak-peak run of Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”

Netflix announced Thursday that AMC, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark will all carry the “Knives Out” sequel for an exclusive one-week run beginning Nov. 23, one month before it begins streaming on Dec. 23.

Up until now, those chains have largely refused to program Netflix releases. But as theatrical windows have shortened from three months to frequently closer to 45 days, and streaming-only releases have sometimes lacked the buzz generated by moviegoing, Netflix and the chains finally found common ground.

The deal stops short of a full theatrical release window for “Glass Onion,” which premiered last month at the Toronto International Film Festival and stars Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc. A wide release typically plays in more than 3,000 theaters in North America, but Johnson’s film will play in about 600 domestic theaters in addition to an international rollout.

“Given the excitement surrounding the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, we hope fans will enjoy this special theatrical event in celebration of the film’s global debut on Netflix in December,” said Scott Stuber, head of global film at Netflix.

For months, negotiations between exhibitors and Netflix had centered around “Glass Onion” because of its box-office pedigree: “Knives Out” was one of the biggest original hits of 2019, grossing more than $311 million worldwide in ticket sales for Lionsgate. After a bidding war, Netflix acquired two sequels for $450 million. Johnson, too, had voiced interest in it playing widely theatrically.

“This movie, above everything else, is designed to be a good time with a big crowd of folks in a theater,” the director said in an earlier interview with The Associated Press.

On Thursday, Johnson celebrated, saying in a statement that he was “over the moon that Netflix has worked with AMC, Regal and Cinemark to get Glass Onion in theaters for this one of a kind sneak preview.”

Adam Aron, chairman and chief executive of AMC, said the first-ever agreement “sufficiently respects the sanctity of our current theatrical window policy.” Aron said he hoped it will lead to more cooperation between Netflix and AMC, the largest theater chain.

“As we have often said, we believe that both theatrical exhibitors and streamers can continue to co-exist successfully,” said Aron in a statement. “Beyond that, though, it has been our desire that we find a way to crack the code and synergistically work together. By doing so, theaters will make more money by having more titles to show, and thanks to the larger cultural resonance those movies can gain from a theatrical release, they will wind up playing to a wider audience when they also are viewed on streaming platforms.”

“Glass Onion” revolves around tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), who invites a small group of friends to his private island for a murder mystery party. The cast includes Janelle Monáe, Dave Bautista, Madelyn Cline, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick and Leslie Odom Jr.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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October 6, 2022