Netflix Attributes Declining Subscriptions to ‘Content Slate’

Variety reports Netflix saw a decline in subscriptions in the United States for the first time in eight years. The company believes their “content slate” was the reason behind their dwindling numbers for Q2, about 130,000 less in the U.S. 

“Our missed forecast was across all regions, but slightly more so in regions with price increases,” Netflix said in their results announcement. While the company mentions that the subscription decline also came at a time when the streaming service went through a monthly price hike in the U.S., adding, “Rather, we think Q2’s content slate drove less growth in paid net adds than we anticipated.”

In May, Netflix subscribers started seeing their Standard and Premium monthly plans increase by two dollars, one of its biggest spikes since the company was founded in 1997. The streaming service claimed that the cost hike was the byproduct of the company taking a renewed focus on producing quality original content, which is apparently what led to a U.S. subscription decline in Q2. 

Even as Netflix saw some of their U.S. subscribers jump ship, the company was still touting their successful original content projects, including The Perfect Date, starring Noah Centineo, becoming a “global hit” which was reportedly watched by 48 million households in its first four weeks, and the Ava DuVernay-directed When They See Us being seen by 25 million households in the first month of its release. 

Netflix is confident that the company will turn it around in the next quarter, thanks in part to Season 3 of Stranger Things and the seventh and final season of Orange Is the New Black hitting the streaming service, among others.