Confronting the loss of subscribers for the first time in a decade, Netflix's main response seems to be an effort to crack down on password sharing among friends and family members, as well as an introduction of a lower-priced advertising tier
People wait in a line to enter 'The Lab', Stranger Things Netflix series experience venue in Madrid, Spain on June 27th, 2022. The visit in The Lab located at the Telefónica Building is free for everyone. This is one of two experiences the Netflix series has opened in Madrid to coincide with the premiere of its fourth season
Image: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
While being honored at the Banff Film Festival in Canada in early June, Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s head of global television, surprised some with what she didn’t say. Despite the recent turmoil at the streaming giant — including a loss of subscribers, hundreds of job cuts and a precipitous stock drop — she said Netflix was charging ahead, with no significant plans to change its programming efforts.
“For me, looking at it, the business works,” Bajaria said from the stage. “We are not doing some radical shift in our business. We’re not merging. We’re not having a big transitional phase.”
Two weeks later, after Netflix had laid off another 300 people, Reed Hastings, the company’s co-chief executive, doubled down on Bajaria’s message, reassuring the remaining employees that the future would, in fact, be bright and that in the next 18 months the company would hire 1,500 people.
To which some in the entertainment industry responded: Is that it?
For years, Netflix has been the leading innovator in Hollywood, spearheading a revolution in how people watch movies and television. Now, confronting the loss of subscribers for the first time in a decade — with more losses expected this year — Netflix’s main response seems to be an effort to crack down on password sharing among friends and family members, as well as an introduction of a lower-priced advertising tier. There is some concern in Hollywood and on Wall Street that those moves are not enough.
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