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He wanted to destroy Netflix by overtaking old media companies

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The head he carries is heavy Crown.

When the TV industry got off to a bad start, Netflix became the king of streaming with 208 million subscribers – nearly half of the world excluding China.

The final quarterly result for media companies ended Thursday night with figures Disney, has shown that the suspension now fulfills the headline of the defense.

Three of the old media groups that Netflix wanted to dismantle – Disney, HBO and ViacomCBS – all grew streaming services faster in the first three months of this year, it feeds investors ’fears that Netflix will have to continue pouring into billions of new shows to attract viewers or risk losing strength.

“Netflix isn’t just about the game, he guessed. But moving forward is different, so the rest of this year is key, ”warns Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown equity.“ The performance of the pandemic was tremendous, but anyone can do it while the sun is shining. ”

‘No real changes we can detect’

Netflix added less than 4 million subscribers worldwide in the first three months of the year, losing its forecast badly. Only 450,000 people registered in the U.S. and Canada, the largest market.

Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, largely dismissed the threat of rivals after announcing these figures last month, telling investors, “There is no real change we can perceive in a competitive environment.”

But Disney Plus attracted 9 million subscribers in the quarter and ViacomCBS added 6 million, while HBO registered nearly 3 million U.S. subscribers to its Max streaming service.

Over the past year and a half, Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia, Comcast and others have launched new streaming platforms. According to the Ampere data company, there are more than 100 streaming services to choose from, including wonderful niche products like Shudder dedicated to horror or Horse & Country, which plays horse racing.

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Netflix share price drop, so far

Unlike cable TV, which often blocks customers from sticking payment packages, Netflix subscriptions can be canceled with a few keystrokes, making it easier to switch between services depending on what people want to see.

Netflix shares have lost 10 percent this year, unless they lose a broader stock rally.

Some of these are described as a break in the recent shareholders ’meeting when the company reached new subscriber heights and investors were willing to pay part of future growth for increasingly higher prices.

But there are also signs that Netflix, created in 1997, is moving into a more mature stage.

‘Another phase of growth’

The company said in January that it no longer needed to increase its debt to cover the cost of its programming, which is a milestone after a decade of relying on garbage debt to surpass Hollywood studios. Netflix last month announced a $ 5 billion share purchase plan.

While Netflix operates as a headline, raising prices and making more money for customers, the century-old Walt Disney Company and its peers resemble start-ups, prioritizing growth, losing billions a year in streaming efforts.

The business unit that Disney consumes directly (including Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN) has lost $ 290 billion during its quarterly revenue of $ 4 billion. Disney expects to lose money with the streaming business by 2023.

“Netflix is ​​in a different phase of growth compared to other streams,” said Foresighte PP analyst Paolo Pescatore. “It will be many years before many other streaming services make a profit. Everyone is making huge bets and will be the leader in losses over the years. “

‘We’re wasting a lot of money’

It’s been a good strategy for Disney: it has risen more than 60 percent in the last year as investors have focused on how many subscribers they have added via streaming than the billions of dollars it has lost as a result of the pandemic. Concerned that the number of subscribers in the first quarter was concerned about the 5m forecast was that its shares were lower after Thursday’s trading.

According to Ampere, there are more video play subscriptions in America, with 340 million subscribers and a population of 330 million, which raises the question of whether home services will continue to pay.

Managers agree that success is ultimately the driver of the subscription business. And as Hollywood knows, it’s hard to predict.

Bob Chape, Disney’s CEO, has cited Marvel’s latest programming as a catalyst for the momentum of new subscribers. “We’re spending a lot of money. . . to create content that will allow consumers to return, ”he said on Thursday.

Netflix executives promise growth will warm in the second half of 2021, with the return of such shows Witch. “There’s a lot based on content programming that’s coming to an end this year,” Lund-Yates said at Hargreaves Lansdown. “Or the spotlight will be on [Netflix] for many wrong reasons. “

Additional report by Alex Barker

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