NEXT story is about Netflix some of you have an account on the streaming site the rest of you have the password of someone who has an account over the last few years Netflix has become synonymous to leisure now what if i told you that people are leaving Netflix and this is happening for the first time in a decade why we will find out in just a bit let's start with some numbers for now at least 200 000 people left Netflix between January and march this year another 200 000 users will log out in the next three months that is by July 2022. back to the big question why are these people leaving Netflix the OTT platform has two explanations one is price rights in January this year remember Netflix raised the subscription rates in the us the UK and Canada by how much up to two dollars it was the first price hike in two years and the timing could not have been worse not too long after January Russia invaded Ukraine the price of Brent crude shot up and soon everything else started getting expensive so people started cutting down on luxuries to cope with the increased cost of living in the UK alone 1.51 million subscriptions were cancelled between January and march this between January and march Netflix also felt the pinch the reason number two it says is Russia Netflix is one of the companies that recently exited Russia that one move cost the platform some seven hundred thousand subscribers or so it says adding had it not exited Netflix would have added another 500 000 subscribers meaning its net subscribers would have still been in green now these are explanations that are coming from Netflix the war the inflation things that are very interestingly beyond the OTT platforms control but is Netflix really a victim of the circumstances not really there is more to this story than that you see Netflix had a great pandemic people were locked up in their homes they had nowhere to go so everyone flocked to Netflix in the very first month of the lockdown Netflix added some 16 million subscribers by the end of 2020 the number was 36 million did Netflix disappoint these users a recent original surely did I'm talking about Bridgeton Netflix was riding big on this show the first season had broken all charts fans could not wait for the sequel it turned out to be a damp squib or so the fancy and this was not the first time that Netflix was letting down its users you know this OTT platform sold itself as the anti-thesis to cable television as a platform for good content as a platform for new content until it became a platform that was churning out content very similar to 90s cable tv how many of you have watched is it cake it's a game show one where contestants are expected to tell whether objects in front of them are real or cakes in disguise now who would want to spend six for 649 rupees a month for that reports say that last year Netflix spent around 13 billion dollars on original content clearly it failed to impress while Netflix's quality of content takes a nosedive other players in the market have started making a mark many are offering similar choice of movies shows and documentaries at a cheaper rate last year streaming platform spent up to 50 billion dollars on content Netflix users could still justify paying more because they could share their passwords and the bill in other words a 649 rupees plan in India or a 20 plan in the united states could be split between a group of friends this was until Netflix started asking users to pay extra for sharing passwords the OTT platform is currently testing this new feature why Netflix says 100 million people are watching its videos through shared passwords and it wants to monetize this viewership users are not happy many are evidently leaving they are either moving to different platforms or moving out look around you our world is finally opening up people no longer need to be glued to the television sets there are other places of entertainment other sources of leisure gyms have reopened theaters have reopened clubs are now welcoming members all over again people can now afford to log out and step out which is good for us but bad for Netflix.
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