The Biggest Thing Netflix Does To Lose Subscribers

There was a time for quite a while when Netflix was the go-to streaming service for watching movies and shows. Things look a little bit different in 2019 now that there are several major streaming services to choose from with some subscribers moving away from Netflix.

As reported by ScreenRant, the latest prediction is that Netflix could face losing as many as 4 million subscribers next year. This comes after the service revealed in September it had close to 160 million subscribers worldwide. So, what is Netflix doing to lose its customers? It appears to boil down to two things: content and money.

As USA Today pointed out, Netflix's library is noticeably dwindling as they’ve opted out of their contracts with highly popular TV shows like “Friends” and “Scrubs” and instead are pulling their resources together to fund their own original materials, with varying success.

As soon as Disney+ launched, it became apparent what Netflix was lacking: loads of favorable, nostalgic content with the addition of brand new original content at, most importantly, a reasonable price. What Netflix offered was once unbeatable, but with so many streaming services out there with a variety of content to view at competitively lower prices, people are moving away from the platform to join other streaming services.

READ: This Disney+ Streaming Habit May Cost You Hundreds Of Dollars

The biggest issue though, according to Laura Martin, a Senior Analyst at Needham (via Bloomberg), is money.

Netflix’s cheapest “Basic” service is $8.99 a month and that comes with a single screen of streaming content. There’s the “Standard” package that sits at $12.99 and the “Premium,” which allows you to stream on multiple screens in HD, is $15.99 a month. This is compared to the Disney+ price of $6.99 a month, which allows you to stream on multiple devices. You can even upgrade your bundle to include Hulu and ESPN+ for an extra $6 a month.

Martin claims that if Netflix wants to compete and keep their subscriber count high, they need to seriously reevaluate the cost of their service. Her solution: introduce a new package that is cheaper, comparable to the Disney+ price. This basic plan would be similar to Hulu’s basic plan, one where you can stream all the content you want, but with ad breaks.

Netflix, however, has stated in the past that they have no intention of putting ads on their streaming service. After all, one 2019 study did reveal that Netflix could stand to lose over half of its subscribers by adding commercials to its plans.