[hugh]

Netflix on Thursday cut its subscriber forecast for the current quarter, saying it now expects to end the period with 24 million customers -- down from the 25 million the company forecast just a few weeks ago.

That's also down from the 25.6 million global subscribers Netflix had on June 30, the end of its second quarter.

 

[cooper83]

Without exaggeration, every single friend & coworker I know who signed up for Netflix - whether it was the free trial or paid subscription - has cancelled due to lack of content.

 

[RalphG]

Well, maybe this is an early warning sign on Netflix's demise and all the Netflix haters will get their wish. I hope not.

Sure one can say there is a lack of content on Netflix Canada but there is a heck of a lot of content for $7.99 per month. Compared to Movie Central at $17.00 per month, even with the HBO content I think Netflix is comparable and a better value.

I think we might find that the 24 million are a solid core of subscribers who see the value in Netflix. Maybe many more will catch on in the future.

 

[woodsie]

I think Netflix knew that stock would plummet but feel it would be short-term. I have to agree. They were re-tooling to focus on streaming rather than rental. Unless the studios squeeze them out, I think their stock will recover.

BTW, comparing the Canadian Netflix to US is like comparing the local
7-11 or Depanneur's video shelf to Blockbuster 10 years ago. No surprise that subs are slow in Canada compared to the US. It will get better as more content is coming and at a faster pace lately it seems.

In the meantime using a proxy to use the US Netflix for $5.00/month is well worth it and a much better deal than any sub to TMN/MPIX IMO.

 

[ScaryBob]

That drop in subs is for the US service not Canada (or maybe combined.) Netflix only just passed the 1 million mark in Canada. The drop is not surprising. Netflix basically doubled the US price for people who want both streaming and mail order DVD services. The combined subscription was quite a bargain and I'm not surprised that it was discontinued. I believe the old plan was grandfathered but it will put a damper on new subs and there are likely people who were lost due to churn or misunderstandings.

 

[Jase88]

I have no doubt churn would be much higher in Canada, due to poor selection. Though their new pricing structure in the US has obviously hurt them as well.

 

[jshel101]

Without exaggeration, every single friend & coworker I know who signed up for Netflix - whether it was the free trial or paid subscription - has cancelled due to lack of content.

Sorry for going OT. So what, every friend, family and coworker that I know, that signed up for Netflix, has kept it and loved it. So I think none of this means anything. I think Netflix Canada is doing pretty good, as of right now. for subscriber numbers.

Back OT. I am not surprised that they are losing so many subscribers in the US. I will also not be surprised if a lot of those same people sign back up when they realize that they miss Netflix. I think double the price is still pretty good value, if you want the streaming and DVD service.

 

[audacity]

I think the main message that Netflix can pitch to their American users is that nobody offers a service with even remotely comparable value.

 

[PokerChip]

I dropped my subscription, because of lack of content.

The value is there for the price, but not enough of it was compelling to my family to even make it worth $8 per month.

My kids were getting mad at me every time they would see the Netflix logo pop up on the PS3 when we were talking about choosing a movie. It was like : "Noooooo, dad, not Netflix...."

 

[Coop]

Also don't discount the fact that people have figured out it's very easy to share their account. They don't restrict their service to one IP address and that's a bad move on their part IMHO.

 

[cooper83]

So what, every friend, family and coworker that I know, that signed up for Netflix, has kept it and loved it. So I think none of this means anything. I think Netflix Canada is doing pretty good, as of right now. for subscriber numbers.

So what? My observation is a personal anecdote that supports the OP's article.

Here's a question: if Netflix Canada is doing "pretty good", why they are losing subscribers?

 

[spensar]

Well, maybe this is an early warning sign on Netflix's demise and all the Netflix haters will get their wish. I hope not.

LOL. I believe internet forum protocol requires me to call you a "fanboy" now. I wish the best to anyone that is trying to deliver content to us with our fancy TVs and sound systems. Don't personalize it because a lot of us have tried Netflix Canada and found it lacking for us, even at $8. Plenty of other pro and con netflix threads already, and for some it's really worth it, so great.

The drop in subscribers, given the price increases and segmenting of the DVDs, doesn't actually look to bad. At some point a service has to pay, and better 24 million that make some $$ vs. losing money on 25 million.

I would love to know the Netflix retention rate of new subscribers, in the US and Canada as well.

 

[ScaryBob]

Also don't discount the fact that people have figured out it's very easy to share their account.

I believe Netflix has now implemented a one show at a time policy. That means that two people cannot use Netflix to watch content on the same account at the same time, even with the same IP address. Limiting use to a single IP has issues because some ISPs use dynamic IP addressing and customers may use portable devices or more than one location to watch content.

 

[andrela]

Nope. according to Netflix, Statement on Sept 9, ""No Netflix Streaming Customer is Limited to Less Than 2 Concurrent Streams"" Have you tried it and see for yourself that it is limited to one stream ?

 

[audacity]

I know that I'm able to stream more than one stream concurrently on a single Netflix account.

 

[ScaryBob]

I stand corrected on that issue. I was relying on info in another post but there must have been something else going on.

OTOH, I cancelled my Netflix account some time ago due to lack of content and lack of use. Every once in a while I hear about something on Netflix I want to watch. None of them have been available on the Canadian service, not one. Netflix sounds like a good idea but the Canadian service is substandard.