Netflix loses 970,000 subscribers, says ads and new fees are key to recovery
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Netflix yesterday reported a loss of 970,000 paid streaming subscribers in its Q2 earnings after having lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter of 2022. The company's worldwide paid memberships decreased from 221.64 million to 220.67 million in Q2, and revenue growth has slowed dramatically.
It's the first time in Netflix's history that the company reported consecutive quarters of subscriber losses, The Wall Street Journal wrote. But the result was better than forecasted, as Netflix had told investors to expect a second-quarter loss of 2 million subscribers.
Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings said in a call with analysts yesterday that "losing 1 million and calling it a success" is "tough," but he added that Netflix is "set up very well for the next year," according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. The newest season of Stranger Things apparently helped prevent larger subscriber losses.