Netflix is considered to be one of the most profitable and popular streaming services out there. However, in the recent year, they have seen a significant decline in subscribers. This was for a wide range of reasons like password sharing and a wide range of other streaming services emerging. This holds grave consequences for Netflix and has caused them to have to think of lasting solutions. Some of these solutions are controversial and people have mixed feelings.

Netflix was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph after they had an idea to let people rent DVDs through mail. In 1998, they launched a website called Netflix.com. In 1999, the service debuted on the internet and allowed unlimited DVD rentals without due dates, late fees, or monthly rental limits. From the Netflix website, subscribers could select movies and T.V. shows. One of more than 100 distribution centers would then mail the titles to subscribers in the form of DVDs. The quantity of DVDs that clients may have in their possession at any given time was restricted by their subscription plans, even though they could normally rent as many movies as they wanted for a single monthly charge. Thousands of film titles were available on Netflix. In 2007, Netflix started letting its customers stream some of its motion pictures and television series to their homes directly over the Internet. Following that, Netflix formed partnerships with producers of several consumer electronics goods, such as Blu-ray Disc players and video game consoles, to make it possible for its programs to be streamed to those gadgets over an Internet connection. A streaming-only Netflix subscription with unlimited viewing but no DVDs was announced in 2010. The streaming-only plan was later made available by Netflix outside of the US to Canada in 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean in 2011, and the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Scandinavia in 2012. In 2014, the number of subscribers surpassed 50 million. In 2021, the subscriber count of the membership finally surpassed 200 million.

Over the last few months, Netflix’s numbers of subscribers have fluctuated. During the first three months of 2022, it was estimated that they lost over one million subscribers. What’s worse is that they were predicted to lose two million subscribers. This was largely due to three main reasons: Inflation, password sharing, and lots of competition from other streaming services. There has been tons of inflation due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic which has caused tons of supply chain issues. Also, tons of people out there share passwords with friends and family in order to save money. Streaming services, like Disney+, HBO Max, and Hulu, have been making tons of money and taking away potential Netflix customers. However, Netflix has thought of several new ways to draw in subscribers. 

One of the new ideas that Netflix has unveiled is the integration of ads. Netflix has decided to make a cheaper streaming plan for $6.99 per month. The catch is this plan will include an average of four to five minutes of commercials each hour and won’t give users the ability to download movies and TV.. series. A limited number of T.V. series and movies will initially be unavailable due to licensing restrictions. Many are optimistic this will help them bounce back. In a press call, Netflix’s president of worldwide advertising, Jeremi Gorman, says that Netflix has seen “overwhelming interest” from hundreds of companies and has almost sold out its ad inventory. This new, cheaper service had been set to debut on November 3. As a result of password sharing, which Netflix believes results in approximately 100 million homes using the service for free, Netflix is also working on two alternative approaches to stop it. The paper describes two separate strategies that are currently being tested; for fees averaging around $2.99 per month, members could have the option to “add a person” and “add a household”.

All in all, Netflix is clearly taking steps to stomp on their competition and keep making a profit. And with all these new features being tested out, it is safe to say that they won’t be going bankrupt anytime soon, and their number of subscribers will continue to grow.