Time of celebration for Netflix , which, after two quarters in which the number of subscribers decreased.
The last one recorded a growth of 2.4 million subscribers to the service, from 220.67 to 223.09 million. The company surpassed Wall Street forecasts, which had estimated growth of 1.09 million. The same goes for revenues: Wall Street had forecast 7.84 billion, the real figure is instead of 7.93 billion.
The growth in subscribers in the last quarter was not equally distributed in the various territories in which the service is active: in the United States and Canada, Netflix registered 100,000 subscribers more. In Asia, they grew by 1.43 million.
Netflix executives have put in place a series of measures after the declines of the last few quarters. In recent months, the company announced that it had frozen growth in content spending, laid off hundreds of employees and, above all, introduced a new plan with advertising at a reduced price , which will start in November also in our country.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Netflix expects to get another 4.5 million subscribers, while analysts expect 4.03 million. Additionally, the company expects revenues to drop to $ 7.8 billion due to inflation.
The Glass Onion – Knives Out case
Speaking after the announcement of the quarterly data, Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos commented on the decision to distribute Glass Onion – Knives Out in American theaters for a week on the occasion of Thanksgiving, discarding the hypothesis that it could be of a first move towards greater involvement of the company in theatrical releases. The film will be released in 600 cinemas on the AMC, Regal and Cinemark circuits , from 23 to 29 November, and then land on the platform on 23 December. A strategy that caused a sensation, considering that for the first time the three major American chains have decided to give space to a Netflix film.
But for Sarandos there are no stories: subscribers come first. Here’s what he said:
Our business is to entertain our members with Netflix movies on Netflix, that’s where we focus all of our energy and most of our investments.
Sarandos added:
There is no question, internally, that we make our own movies for our members, and we really want them to see them on Netflix. Of course, with only a week in theaters, almost everyone will see them on Netflix. As they see other films. Most people see most of the movies at home.
The theatrical distribution of Glass Onion is therefore a cross between a technical release for an Oscar qualification and a presentation at festivals. An event capable of making noise, in other words:
This week-long release in 600 theaters is a way to create access to a film and fuel word of mouth. The same thing we do at festivals. Take it as another way to create anticipation and word of mouth for the film in anticipation of its release on Netflix.