IT has more than 158 million paying subscribers worldwide, as well as 5.5 million free trial customers. But as Netflix continues to splurge billions on programming, it is taking on even more debt as a raft of rivals nip at its heels.
More debt?
Netflix is burning through money. It has just announced plans to offer approximately $2 billion in bonds in euros and dollars, continuing its pattern of using debt to raise funds for its content.
It already did a bond sale this year?
A similar sale was announced in April. The streaming giant says it will use the money raised for “general corporate activities”, including content acquisitions, production and development.
Are people still tuning in?
California-based Netflix didn’t hit its subscriber forecast in the US for the second quarter in a row, adding 6.8 million subscribers - below the 7 million target in the three months ending in September. Outside the US, results were better - 6.3 million new subscribers, above the forecast of 6.05 million.
The pressure is on?
Rivals keep popping up, with new competitors Apple and Disney posing a threat as they arrive in the video streaming market. Disney has all its own mega movies, while Apple premieres its new programme, The Morning Show, featuring Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carrell, on November 1 on Apple TV+.
Netflix say they are “chilled”?
CEO Reed Hastings, told shareholders earlier this month that the new competitors present a "modest headwind" but said Netflix has been "preparing for this new wave of competition for a long time".
They are splurging on content?
The company is expected to fork out $15 billion on content this year as it races to build an alluring catalogue.
It has an impressive list of original content already?
Season 3 of its critically acclaimed series, The Crown, begins in November, while other hits include Stranger Things, Mindhunter, When They See Us, Daredevil, Grace & Frankie, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
Netflix wants to stop password-sharing?
Presently, multiple users can share one account by setting up different profiles using one login, while users must purchase premium plans to watch Netflix on more than one screen. But this is intended for users under one roof. Some people are ignoring this and sharing passwords with others. It’s thought just under 10% of Netflix users do not pay for their accounts and the firm is losing around $135 million in missed sales monthly.
So what do they plan to do?
Chief product officer, Greg Peters, said: “We continue to monitor it so we’re looking at the situation. We’ll see those consumer-friendly ways to push on the edges of that.”
One possible solution?
Tech firm Synamedia has developed a new AI system to crack down on account sharing that uses machine learning to identify "casual credentials sharing". Synamedia revealed their product earlier this year and said they will make it available to streaming firms like Netflix after its trials are complete.
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