This 1968 song from the band Blood, Sweat & Tears seems to have new [or age-old] relevance in the time of streaming.
It’s apparently time to ask how long the golden age can stay golden. Without saying something pejorative – [a word or phrase that has negative connotations or that is intended to belittle] I have to say that Netflix seems to be losing steam or more precisely, ‘stream’. Remember Blackberry? – well there is an excellent book, with a very clever title, about the extraordinary rise and demise of this mobile phone brand, once the golden standard - Losing the Signal. I know it is a play of words, but it does signal something, and maybe even something big or bigger, like an inflection point. Or maybe it’s just that competition is eating Netflix.
Have we had enough of Netflix?
We've all spent the last few years, especially the last two, binge-watching indiscriminately. Locked in by the pandemic, it became the go-to screen for millions of us. Are we maybe just a little bit sick of it? I think that's the fear seizing executives in Netflix's boardroom right now.
Julian Aquilina, senior TV analyst at the media research firm Enders Analysis, says it is wrong to write Netflix off. "The streaming market is maturing and the high expectations people had about Netflix are being reset. But I think it will remain the market leader, it has such a commanding position.” Netflix has 220 million subscribers, but has lost many subscribers recently and it is said that 2 million more will likely quit in the three months to July. It has announced the first drop in profits since 2011 this week and the share price quickly tanked by 35% - that’s 50B USD of shareholder value. Eina!
And why is that? Maybe to save money, maybe there is too much content, maybe we are ‘time-poor’ again since the pandemic is receding. Maybe the competition from Disney, Amazon and others are eating Netflix. Maybe it’s ALL OF THESE.
This is how Netflix still sells its ‘new’ nirvana of streaming on their website:
Streaming entertainment is expanding rapidly because of:
· Ecosystem Growth: The internet is getting faster and more reliable, while penetration of connected devices, like smart TVs and smart phones is also rising.
· Freedom and Flexibility: Consumers can watch content on demand, on any screen, and the experience is personalized to individual tastes.
· Rapid Innovation: streaming entertainment apps have frequent improvement updates and streaming is the primary source of UHD 4K video content.
Also… this Netflix blurb:
“We are about the freedom of on-demand and the fun of binge viewing. We are about the flexibility of any screen at any time. We are about a personal experience that finds for each person the most pleasing titles from around the world.”
But it’s more like the hit song Never Enough from the movie The Greatest Showman:
All the shine of a thousand spotlights
All the stars we steal from the night sky
Will never be enough
Never be enough
Towers of gold are still too little
These hands could hold the world
But it’ll never be enough
Never be enough for me
I’m afraid at some stage everything becomes just too much – too familiar, too easy, too passé – and then we move on.
After everything I have written, Netflix remains unsurpassed as binge watching home theater and a conversation starter; good entertainment value for money and the highway to the next NEW-NEW thing.