While Netflix is losing subscribers and laying off staff, its competitors are making hay: Disney+ is seeing subscriber numbers skyrocket, and Amazon just unveiled its latest big investment in new shows for Prime Video as well.
I’ll be honest: In Amazon Prime Video’s new content announcement, they had me on The Boys Season 3, which appears to be “the craziest yet” – which is really saying something. But that’s far from all Amazon has to offer in 2022.
Amazon also has a slew of other new Amazon Originals: Fifteen Love from the producers of the great Vigil; a true crime series with the working title The Disappearance of Patricia Hall; Three Mothers, a gripping real-life story of incredible online events; Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes, in which the England cricket captain discusses his career with award-winning director Sam Mendes; All or Nothing: Arsenal, a Club History; and many more including a KSI documentary, new comedy shows and specials including a backstage visit with Katherine Ryan; rap drama jungle; and the epic thriller series The Rig, starring Line of Duty’s Martin Compston.
Oh, and there’s also the billionaire The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. I think just a few Maybe people should take a look at this.
Boom time for British television
The announcements aren’t all good news for UK streamers. It’s also good news for British talent, as Amazon spends considerable sums on production companies to produce these programmes. And there is also a new fund to support UK women’s tennis in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association to help women and girls overcome the barriers that can prevent them from playing competitively: coaching, equipment and the environment. We’ll learn more about that later this year.
It’s definitely not good news for everyone. Netflix isn’t having a bright time right now, like never before: After suffering much higher-than-expected subscriber losses — a loss that’s increasingly happening among long-time customers, which is a worrying development — Netflix has been aggressively cutting costs and downsizing.
Two percent of Netflix’s entire workforce was laid off, mostly in the US, and sixty to seventy freelancers working on its social media channels were also laid off. It is the second round of cuts in two months. The cuts have been particularly severe in areas with more diverse workforces: As one user put it on Twitter, “Netflix has eliminated all of its diversity divisions, including Strong Black Lead, Asian American-focused Golden, Latinx-focused Con Todo, and LGBTQ-focused Most.” .”
As I’ve written before, Netflix no longer has the market to itself — and its competitors are spending money serious Amounts of money for attracting new subscriptions, just as many of us are tightening our belts and deciding if we need so many subscriptions to drain out of our bank accounts. While cutting costs can improve Netflix’s bottom line, the only thing that will reverse the subscriber loss is offering programming people want to watch at a price they’re happy to pay.
At the moment I think Netflix should be very concerned as they are being overused and arguably overtaken by several other streaming services. Unless Netflix does something soon, I can see the market shifting permanently in favor of its competitors, and with the streaming landscape as it is now in 2022, not 2012 when Netflix had a free hand in the market, if this is not the case regain its dominant position.
Varis Van zel 