Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos during the virtual presentation of the news.
Streaming platform Netflix launched a virtual call this Wednesday to neutralize the threat the writers’ strike posed to the original plan, an in-person appointment at a New York theater. There was the big call of the year, the presentation of news, the announcement of strategies and the balance of its new business model, the subscription plan with advertising, which reaches the number of five million monthly active users six months after its launch.
The plan, which costs $7 a month in the US — less than half the price of the most popular offering — is expected to spur growth in an industry where new streaming customers, particularly nationally, are finding it more difficult to saturate offer. The word “ad” was most prominent in the first section of the presentation, or in business jargon, “Upfront,” the annual ritual where major television networks present their fall programming to New York buyers and advertisers.
Monthly users are not necessarily subscribers. In fact, some may be sharing plans. Still, the number could allay some fears that Netflix’s ad-supported offering has stalled. Despite the looming strike demonstration outside the Manhattan theater where the event was set to take place, traffic data couldn’t be more encouraging for the platform, which is a leader in the global streaming sector during the pandemic and later in the process of sedimentation of the plentiful supply. Netflix leads its US peers by one huge difference: It’s three times the sum of all its peers and is more than 40 points (five times more) ahead of its closest, Disney+.
“We’ve got everything from Emmy-winning shows to reality shows, comedy to true crime, Oscar-winning shows to action-adventure, romantic comedy to horror,” said Greg Peters, co- Netflix CEO. According to Nielsen, Netflix was the number one original television show in the US for 15 of the 16 weeks analyzed and the number one movie for 14 weeks that year.
The presentation, which focused heavily on the US market, also featured content shaping the global discussion, such as the success of the series La Diplomática, Netflix’s latest destination after titles like The Crown. “No other entertainment company strives to produce great films and shows in so many genres, in so many countries, and for such a wide and diverse audience. We achieve this by partnering with world-class talent and giving them the freedom and support to tell their best stories. “Our connection to them is the main reason we are able to bring new and original stories to our members,” explains Bela Bajaria, Head of Content.
Among the global announcements, there was no shortage of The Diplomat’s second season, starring Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell; Anthony Doerr’s ambitious Pulitzer Prize-winning adaptation The Light You Cannot See about Nazism; a nod to the growing Latino market with the Griselda series, which recreates the life of a powerful drug lord, starring and producing Sofía Vergara, as well as new installments of classics like Los Bridgertons and Stranger Things. In the fall comes the sixth season and final touches of The Crown, a production that has garnered countless awards for Netflix. The fourth season of “Acid Sex Education” also celebrates its premiere.
In addition to the aforementioned Griselda, other great new releases include the smash hit Narcos and its massive sequel, The Fall of the House of Usher, based on the Edgar Allan Poe stories. A documentary series about former soccer player David Beckham, a survival program and a clear commitment to local markets, from South Korea to Spain with the seventh season of Elite or with Berlin, from the creators of Money Heist complete the offer in addition to the always rich offer on documentaries.
“Fans’ special relationship with Netflix programming is shaping the culture in powerful and unexpected ways,” said Ted Sarandos, the company’s other co-CEO. The presentation also concluded with a mention of the key role played by advertising. Just as Netflix was revolutionizing the market with House of Cards, Sarandos was promising “similar advertising breakthroughs” that “maybe just as impactful.” “We still have a long way to go to build scale in advertising,” in “a brighter future for ad-supported streaming,” a synergy that, for now and according to the data, has proven to be a winning formula.
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