Netflix expects to hit 146 million subscribers in Q4 For the third quarter its subscriber additions were well above its internal prediction, with worldwide growth of 6.96 million compared to the projected 5 million. Now it predicts it will grow by another 9.4 million customers in Q4, with most of the new subscribers coming from outside the US. (Engadget)
Saudi Netflix Netflix took down in Saudi Arabia an episode of comedian Hasan Minhaj's satirical show, in which he mocked the Saudi government for its evolving attempts to explain the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. The move took place following a request from the Saudi government—Netflix says it was just complying with the law there, but human rights activists are outraged. Guardian
Netflix Rival The British broadcasters ITV and BBC have teamed up to launch a streaming service featuring classic British TV, but not the latest series. The BritBox service, intended as a rival to Netflix, is currently available in North America and will launch in the U.K. itself in the second half of the year. Variety
Netflix Subscriptions Disappoint The streaming giant underwhelmed in its second quarter, as its U.S. subscriber numbers dropped for the first time in nearly a decade—130,000 people cut the service. But worldwide, the bigger picture is that Netflix's subscriber numbers have not been meeting its own forecast of blockbuster expansions amid increased competition from Disney, Apple and others. WSJ
NFLX has a shallow “moat,” as Mr Buffet puts it. DIS, AAPL, and other titans are storming the castle. Their revenue is all consumer market too—and consumers are flaky as a croissant. Nothing to stop 20% or more of their customers from canceling their subscriptions tomorrow. 138B market cap? More than IBM? Pfft.. gimme a break. They don’t even have a content delivery device. This house of cards is going to come tumbling down.
French broadcasting networks will take on Netflix with new streaming service French regulators gave the go-ahead on plans by the country’s broadcasting bigwigs to launch a joint streaming service, Salto, to fight the global giants. Variety reports that Pubcaster France Televisions has joined hands with its commercial rivals M6 and TF1 on the new subscription platform, which is expected to hit the scene Q1 of 2020. The streams they are a changin’ As if Amazon and Netflix haven’t taken enough hits from domestic broadcast giants, now France is stepping up to compete against international players on their own territory. And, with more than 5m Netflix subscribers in France, the leaders of the new streaming consortium are smelling the popcorn potential. “Now that Salto has been approved, we will at last be able to put together Team France in broadcasting,” said Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO of France Televisions. And it’s not just France ITV and the BBC have also announced the launch of their “best of British” streaming service, BritBox, later this year. Netflix has over 130m subscribers in more than 190 countries. As technology gives birth to budding film industries all over the world, the streaming biz only stands to become more competitive for companies like Netflix and Amazon.