Netflix is ​​rapidly losing longtime subscribers — those who have been with the streaming service for more than three years — further compounding its woes as the company faces faltering growth amid declining revenue.

According to a survey report by The Information, new data shows that people who have subscribed to Netflix for more than three years accounted for 13 percent of unsubscribes in the first quarter of this year.

The information received data from US-based analytics company Antenna.

The data showed that a total of 3.6 million people were affected by cancellations in the January-March period – a massive increase from 2.5 million cancellations over the past five quarters.

Amid the terminations, new accounts make up a smaller share, another worry for Netflix, which is struggling to retain users for long.

New subscribers accounted for nearly 60 percent of cancellations last quarter, according to Wednesday’s report.

Amid slow revenue growth, Netflix has laid off nearly 150 employees, mostly in the US.

“As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we also need to slow our expense growth as a company. Unfortunately, today we are laying off around 150 employees, mostly in the US,” a Netflix spokesman was quoted as saying in reports Tuesday.

“These changes are driven primarily by business needs rather than individual performance, making them particularly difficult as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues,” the company added.

Netflix saw its shares plummet 20 percent after reporting a loss of 2,000 paying subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, its first subscriber loss in over a decade.

In addition, it now forecasts a global loss of 20 lakh in paid subscribers for the April-June (Q2) quarter.

Netflix last month fired several veteran journalists and writers working for its entertainment site Tudum, which just launched last December.

To brighten its future prospects, Netflix is ​​reportedly planning to live stream its upcoming slate of unscripted shows and comedy specials.

Netflix has also accelerated plans to integrate ads directly into its TV shows and films and limit password sharing.

–IANS

na/vd

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard contributors; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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