Netflix is Losing Subscribers After Decade of Dominance, Survey Shows

Netflix became a household name among users as the popular streaming service was the choice of thousands for their favorite movies and TV shows. However, a recent survey suggests that Netflix is losing a lot of long-term subscribers.

It says that the users who subscribed to the service for over three years represent 13% of total cancellations in the first quarter of 2022.

A report from The Information states that the company is losing subscribers at an alarming rate. It claims to have received data from Antenna, a notable analytics firm that collects data from more than 5 million Americans who anonymously share their streaming subs.

The data report states that the overall cancellation count has hit 3.6 million people over the past quarter, a massive increase from the 2.5 million cancellations witnessed in the previous five quarters.

As the cancellation count keeps growing, The information further reports that the new user count is comparatively lower and accounts for a small share of it, another indication that Netflix is struggling to retain its user base.

A survey conducted in the second quarter of 2021 states that the users who subscribed to the service for less than a year make up nearly 70 percent of the total cancellations, while the long-term subscribers amounted to six percent. Thus, new subscribers had nearly 60 percent of cancellations in the past quarter.

Factors Why Netflix is Losing Subscribers

There are several factors contributing to the loss of such major numbers. The year 2022 also started rough for Netflix as the streaming giant lost around 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter.

It was the biggest hit in over a decade for the company. Furthermore, it also expects to lose over 2 million additional subscribers in the second quarter of the year. Hence, it currently resides at 74.58 million subs across Canada and U.S.

Some key factors contributing to such a blow are the company’s decision to cut services in Russia, which resulted in a loss of over a million subscribers. Furthermore, the prices increased from $8.99 to $9.99 per month for the basic plan; the standard plan sits at $15.49 from $13.99, while the premium tier is now valued at $19.99 instead of $17.99 per month.

Not all hope is lost for Netflix

A relief for Netflix enthusiasts is that all hope isn’t lost yet. It’s testing a feature in different countries like Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica, which will let them add the sub-account for anyone using the service outside the regular household at a discounted rate.

Netflix is also working on providing unscripted content such as comedy specials through live streaming. These features are needed to compete with the likes of Disney Plus, which added around 8 million new subscribers in the past quarter.