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With this tailwind, Netflix is getting serious into live entertainment: “Raw,” the WWE league’s weekly wrestling show, is moving to the streaming service after 30 years on linear TV.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed – but information from financial service Bloomberg suggests Netflix will cost WWE programming $5 billion over a ten-year period.
The deal makes clear how much the balance in the TV business has tipped in favor of streaming. US broadcast group NBC is missing a reliable magnet for viewers and advertising; Sports is the biggest reason why Americans can still buy expensive cable TV subscriptions. The wrestling league hopes to eventually become more popular outside the United States thanks to Netflix’s global base. Ted Sarandos, co-chairman of Netflix, expects advertising dollars to increase by following WWE broadcasts on his platform.
Netflix also works without free users
Netflix made a risky bet last year, but it seems to have paid off. Netflix was watched in nearly 100 million households without a subscription, with access data from friends or relatives. It could backfire when the service asks such free users to pay: After all, there are plenty of other streaming services you can switch to. But the Netflix show has proven attractive enough that many people will pay instead.
This pressure triggers an increase in the number of users. The new, cheaper subscription with ads also plays a big role: 40 percent of new customers choose it in the twelve markets where it’s available. Netflix is discontinuing its slightly more expensive ad-free basic subscription in more and more countries. If you want to watch without ads, you’ll have to pay much more.
Netflix predicts a slower growth in the number of users for the current quarter compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, potential hits like the second season of Korean drama “Squid Game” are also coming out this year, which could provide new momentum.
Netflix made 5.4 billion in revenue in 2023
Quarterly sales rose 12.5 percent year over year to $8.83 billion, Netflix announced after the U.S. stock market closed on Tuesday. Profit was $938 million, down from $55 million in the same quarter last year. Investors were impressed: shares rose more than 8 percent in after-hours trading.
Last year, Netflix had a profit of $5.4 billion. This is in stark contrast to the business of many other streaming services, which are generally in the red. For some competitors, like Apple and Amazon, their core businesses generate so much money that they can easily absorb streaming losses. But while Hollywood studios and TV networks Disney, Paramount, and NBC have made streaming a cornerstone of their business strategies, cinema and traditional television sometimes have their ups and downs.
To make streaming services more attractive, Hollywood rivals have tried the strategy of keeping their productions exclusively to themselves. But this only worked to a limited extent. Now they are sharing more shows with Netflix again. This led to the NBC series “Suits” becoming a popular broadcast again a few years after it ended. (SDA)
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
