Netflix as a whole is a very curious thing. Because when you look at the amount of content that they have, you can’t help but be amazed by it. But, on the flip side of things, if you look at it from the business standpoint, you realize that there are a lot of faults in the system. You’d think that they’d be “rolling in it” in terms of money, but they’re perpetually in debt because of them both buying rights for movies/shows and then making their own original content. And due to it being a streaming service, some people will buy in and buy out leaving their number of subscribers heavily fluctuating. So if it wasn’t for things like Stranger Things, they’d be in major trouble.
For proof of this, you need only look at the recent numbers for Q2 earnings this year, where they lost apparently 1 million subscribers. But Co-CEO Reed Hastings noted that it could’ve been even worse had it not been for their hit franchise:
“You know looking at the quarter, you know were executing really well on the content side obviously,” Hastings said. “Ozark, Stranger Things, lots of titles, lots of viewing. We’re improving everything we do around marketing, improving the service, the merchandising and you know all of that slowly pays off.”
He added, “If there was a single thing we might say Stranger Things but again we’re talking about you know losing 1 million instead of losing 2 million so you know our excitement is tempered by the less bad results.”
That is one of the benefits that Netflix has over other platforms, they have LOTS of key original programming that is coming out every year that can help “stem the tide’. Of course, Stranger Things is ending in 2024 with its final season…so how that’ll affect the service’s numbers is anyone’s guess…
Source: ComicBook.com