Netflix

In May, the company launched paid sharing in more than 100 countries, representing more than 80 per cent of its revenue base. "Revenue in each region is now higher than pre-launch, with sign-ups already exceeding cancellations. Paid net additions were 5.9 million in Q2," Netflix said in a statement late on Wednesday, adding that its password-sharing crackdown is working.

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, one of the reasons behind the spending cut is that Netflix delayed its plans to crack down on password sharing from the first quarter to the second quarter this year.

The most significant impact was on the timing of Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, as there were no matches on Disney+Hotstar in the quarter that ended on October 1, compared to 18 matches in the prior-year quarter, The Walt Disney Company said in its quarterly earnings call late on Tuesday.

Yet its recent struggles may not be the start of a downward spiral or the beginning of the end for the streaming giant. Rather, it's a sign that Netflix is becoming a more traditional media company, CNN reported. Netflix was originally valued as a Big Tech company, part of the Wall Street acronym, "FAANG", which stood for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google.

Netflix is having a terrible year. In April, the company reported that it had lost subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 -- the first time that had happened in any quarter for more than a decade. Netflixs stock subsequently burst into flames, it's currently down about 70 per cent so far this year, wiping out billions of dollars in market value, and the company laid off hundreds of employees.

According to a report in Insider citing sources, Roku employees have long been speculating about the company being sold to Netflix. The buyout would reportedly cost around $13 billion (based on its current valuation) and will give Netflix a foothold in the hardware market. Both Netflix and Roku did not comment on the report.

According to a survey report by The Information, new data show that people who have been subscribers to Netflix for more than three years accounted for 13 per cent of cancellations in the first quarter this year.

Several top-notch creative professionals from its original series vertical, such as Sebastian Gibbs and Negin Salmasi, have been asked to go, reports TechCrunch. "As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company. So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly US-based," a Netflix spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report late on Tuesday.

Moreover, Netflix forecasts a global paid subscriber loss of 20 lakh for the second quarter (Q2) of 2022. The decline has brought Netflix's subscriber base to 221.6 million, down from 221.8 million in the previous quarter.

According to a TechCrunch report, the NFL is in talks with media companies about selling equity in NFL Films. The most notable company that is in the queue is Netflix. Today, there are no live games on Netflix or more sports content but the streaming house may soon plan to grab a bigger pie of the sports industry in the online world.