Netflix was pretty confident in its ability to bounce back from its recent woes when it reported second-quarter 2022 earnings.
Despite its financial troubles, significant subscriber losses and show cancellations, the streaming giant was optimistic about its recovery prospects. Yet in the two months since its last quarterly earnings call, Netflix has shown no major signs of overcoming the worst of its problems.
In July, Netflix predicted it would add a million subscribers to its current user base for its Q2022 XNUMX earnings call — a bold claim, given that the streamer has spent the past two quarters hemorrhaging paying customers. . Of course, it's not entirely Netflix's fault. The war between Ukraine and Russia, coupled with the cost of living crisis in countries such as the UK, has caused people to opt to cancel their streaming subscriptions to save money in the face of rising prices around the world.
However, for those still paying for one of Netflix's three current subscriptions (an ad-based fourth tier is coming soon), the streamer doesn't offer enough value for money when it comes to original content.
The Netflix Top 10 website (opens in a new tab) is a great indicator of the streaming company's current list of movies and TV shows. Each week, Netflix provides a roundup of the top-performing movies and shows on its platform, showing how many weeks each production has spent on its Top 10 Movies and Shows lists, as well as the number of millions of hours they've been spending. . Viewed.
On the Netflix series front, Cobra Kai Season 5 was a huge success for Netflix – a fan favorite with 106,7 million hours watched in the last seven days (September 5-11). Devil in Ohio also performed admirably on the TV show front with its 70,8 million hours aired during the same period.
Look past Cobra Kai and Devil in Ohio, however, and the whole picture comes out much sharper.
End of the Road, the road trip thriller starring Queen Latifah, was last week's best-performing Netflix movie, with 30,2 million hours streamed. Love in the Villa, I Came By and Me Time have also racked up more than 20 million hours each.
So what is the problem? Frankly, the last seven days, and September in its entirety, have been the quietest time, from an audience perspective, for Netflix in a long time.
The last time Netflix had such a quiet week, movie-wise, was between May 2 and May 8. At that time, 365 days: That day only saw 27,5 million hours of viewing. The week of April 18-24 was even worse for the streamer, with Choose or Die achieving the top spot on Netflix's top 10 movies list with 15,2 million hours streamed.
Ever since those barren weeks, Netflix has always had a massive (or relatively successful) movie on its hands. Adam Sandler's Hustle, Spiderhead, The Man from Toronto, The Gray Man, The Sea Beast, Purple Hearts, Day Shift and Me Time have logged more than 50 million hours watched on Netflix since mid-May.
However, so far in September, Netflix hasn't had a highly anticipated movie to continue this hot streak. That could change soon: Do Revenge, Lou, Athena, and Ana de Armas' Marilyn Monroe Blonde biopic could draw in viewers and give the streamer another hit movie to add to their catalogue. If this quartet doesn't live up to fan and critic expectations, September 2022 could be the worst-performing month in Netflix movie history for quite some time.
Things aren't going so well on the TV show front, either. After Cobra Kai and Devil in Ohio, there has been a huge drop in hours watched when it comes to Netflix's TV offerings.
The Imperfects, a sci-fi horror series that launched on September 8, racked up just 24 million hours of viewing in its first week. After that, other shows, like Dated and Related, fell short of the 20 million hours of streaming mark.
Aside from the recent success of Cobra Kai, Netflix has only had two TV shows exceed 100 million hours of viewing since the unprecedented success of Stranger Things season 4 earlier this year. Season 4 Part 1 arrived on May 27 and quickly racked up 781 million hours of viewing in its first two weeks. Part 2 of Season 4 dropped on July 1 and, after adding an additional 591 million hours of streaming within two weeks of release, also set up what should be an exciting fifth and final season in the hugely popular supernatural sci-fi show
Virgin River season 4 (105,4 million hours watched) and The Sandman season 1 (127,5 million hours streamed) are the only non-Cobra Kai series to break the 100 million+ barrier for Netflix since Stranger Things season 4, part 2. These numbers were accumulated between July 18 and 24 and August 8 and 14, respectively.
Based on the schedule of upcoming TV series, it's unlikely any upcoming Netflix shows will break that barrier either. Arguably, Fate: The Winx Saga Season 2 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners have the best chance of doing so: the former is a sequel to a fairly popular show, and the latter is a gripping animated spin-off of CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077 video game. Net. . Outside of this duo, though, the rest of Netflix's September 2022 TV lineup is filled with reality shows and weird art indie projects, like Rainbow and Entergalactic, that aren't expected to draw big viewing numbers.
Simply put, Netflix is in the midst of a huge barren period when it comes to major movie and TV show offerings, and that's a problem. The streamer needs to give potential subscribers a reason to sign up to grow their fan base and revenue streams, and they will have a hard time doing that if they don't provide engaging content for the audience.
Their October 2022 lineup looks like it might inspire people to part with their money. Mike Flanagan's next project, aka The Midnight Club, is sure to appeal to TV fans. Other potential heavyweights like School for Good and Evil, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, The Good Nurse and All Quiet on the Western Front should help Netflix's attempts to bolster its subscriber base. With the Halloween season fast approaching, Netflix fans are sure to tune in to the platform for a scare or two, like its huge catalog of horror movies or the possible arrival of its Wednesday Addams spin-off series.
Right now, though, the streaming giant is going through a dry spell, and it's hurting the streamer's chances of turning the tide in its favor. Netflix could really do without a month as dry as September. But, thanks to his mediocre offers, he has made a stick out of his own back and will have to face the consequences.
For more Netflix-based coverage, check out all the movies set to premiere on the streamer in 2022. Otherwise, read our thoughts on whether Netflix should do away with its binge-watching model.
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