Netflix lost 1 million subscribers last quarter, but its stock is up and its CEO believes the death of linear TV is just a few years away.

Mahmoud Bennett Social Media Producer

Netflix CEO Hastings predicts linear TV will be dead in a few years

Jul 25, 2022

Mahmoud Bennett Social Media Producer

By Mahmoud Bennett (Social Media Producer), Chris Field (Senior Editor)

Netflix revealed it lost nearly 1 million subscribers in 2022’s second quarter, but the company called it a win and saw its stock jump following the news. In a call with investors, CEO Reed Hastings said that despite the losses, the company is sitting pretty since, as he believes, linear TV will be dead in “5 to 10 years,” the Verge reported.

The streaming service saw its largest ever customer drop-off from April to June this year with 970,000 accounts closed, the Associated Press said. However, the company had expected to lose 2 million subscribers following a first-quarter loss of 200,000. The news pleased investors and the company’s stock ticked up 7% in after-hours trading.

In a call with investors, Hastings admitted that “it’s tough losing a million subscribers and calling it a success,” but he wasn’t worried, claiming that, in a decade or less, normal TV would be dead.

“It’s definitely the end of linear TV over the next five to 10 years,” the Netflix chief said.

The company backed up the CEO’s claim with data in a letter to shareholders that said “in the U.S., which is one of the most competitive markets in the world, we drew more TV viewing time than any other outlet during the 2021-22 TV season nearly matching the combined total of the two most watched broadcast networks,” Variety reported.

A post from Nelson showed that streaming currently makes up 33.7% of TV viewing, while broadcast and cable make up 57.5%. Forecasters at Insider Intelligence predict digital video will overtake TV by 2024.

Hastings added, “And, as Nielsen will announce on Thursday, our share of U.S. TV viewing reached an all-time high of 7.7% in June (vs. 6.6% in June 2021), demonstrating our ability to grow our engagement share as we continue to improve our service.”

The Nielsen report showed Netflix to be the nation’s No. 1 streamer, garnering 7.7% of American TV viewing and easily outpacing YouTube (6.9%), Hulu (3.3%), and Amazon (2.9%).

MAHMOUD BENNETT: NETFLIX WANTS LINEAR TV TO DIE – THAT’S ACCORDING TO THE COMPANY’S CEO WHO SAYS IT HAS 5-TO-10 YEARS MAX.

DESPITE A LOSS OF AROUND A MILLION
SUBSCRIBERS LAST QUARTER – THEY’RE OPTIMISTIC – IT’S A LOT LESS THAN THE 2 MILLION THEY PROJECTED BACK IN APRIL

SO WHEN IT COMES TO STREAMING YOUR FAVORITE SHOW – DO YOU THINK TRADITIONAL TV WILL EVER DIE OUT? I MEAN I KNOW FOR A FACT YOU’RE WATCHING THIS ON A DIGITAL DEVICE

AND LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE TOO: ACCORDING TO INSIDER INTELLIGENCE THE AVERAGE AMERICAN SPENDS ABOUT 2 HOURS AND 41 MINUTES EVERY DAY WATCHING VIDEOS ON THEIR PHONES LAPTOPS OR COMPUTERS

THAT’S LESS THAN THE 3 HOURS AND 7 MINUTES THEY SPEND ON TRADITIONAL TELEVISION.

SO WHILE CABLE TV IS SLIGHTLY AHEAD – ONLINE STREAMING IS REACHING NEW LEVELS ACCORDING TO NIELSEN

AND PROJECTIONS SHOW STREAMING WILL OVERTAKE TRADITIONAL TV IN A COUPLE YEARS

NETFLIX IS TAKING THAT TO THE BANK AS THEY SEE A JUMP IN REVENUE DESPITE A LOSS OF USERS.

AND WHO KNOWS – STREAMING MAY SOON LOOK A LOT MORE LIKE TV -WITH COMPANIES INTRODUCING OPTIONS WITH AD INTERRUPTIONS – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?