Some chinks in Netflix's armor are now causing deeper dents —
weaker second-season viewership of new original shows following lower daily viewer engagement on the premium streamer.
It seems Netflix is now looking to amp up what everyone seems to be going
after: live TV content.
This can mean major sports, of course, but also other live event programming which could include awards shows, special reality TV and other programming.
A
report in The Wall Street Journal says all this concern has been discussed at at the premium streamer's annual business review. There are also concerns about weakening general subscription
gains.
But one analyst suggests there is a link to some of Netflix's slips: consumer price.
“Third-party data signals suggested that engagement was already starting to see some
cracks after the recent round of price hikes,” says Daniel Kurnos, media analyst for Benchmark Equity Research.
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Going forward, all this may put investors on the sidelines for a bit.
“It seems silly to say Netflix is under siege given how successful their slate appears to be this year, especially abroad, but until they can definitively address the engagement question, it
feels like shares may be stuck in neutral," Kurnos says.
Beyond looking at adding more high-profile viewing from late-season NFL games and playoffs, Netflix is looking at other live models
— such as the one it has with France’s over-the-air TV group TF1, where viewers can access all five TF1 channels via
live streaming on the Netflix platform.
Netflix says it is exploring more of these types of partnerships in other countries and markets.
Michael Morris, media analyst at Guggenheim
Securities said: “This represents Netflix's evolution from pure streaming service to content aggregator — a potentially significant strategic evolution... and could serve as a template for
additional growth vectors.”
Does that mean Netflix could take over say some stable -- but declining -- U.S. live TV networks groups -- broadcast, cable or otherwise?