Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers last quarter and potentially two million this current period, according to a note to shareholders from last month. Now, new research highlights that the number of long-standing subscribers canceling Netflix rose precipitously in the past few years.
The data provided by the research firm Antenna to The Information shows that people who had been subscribers for more than three years accounted for just 5% of total cancelations at the start of 2022, while it hit 13% in the first quarter of 2022.
Newbie subscribers, meantime, accounted for only 60% of cancellations in the quarter, down from 64% in the fourth quarter. Also in the first quarter, overall cancellations rose to 3.6 million people, compared with around 2.5 million in each of the preceding five quarters. Antenna says it draws its data from a panel of 5 million Americans who anonymously contribute their streaming subscriptions.
While Netflix is losing ground, the streaming market as a whole is gaining more subscribers, and Antenna’s data suggest a connection between the price increase and Netflix’s subscriber losses.
“Consumers vote with their wallets on a monthly basis, and now there are just more viable candidates on the ballot,” said Brendan Brady, media and entertainment lead at Antenna. Also, since many entertainment companies, like NBCUniversal and Disney, have pulled their shows off Netflix and put them on their own services, Netflix has had to rely more on its originals, which have been hit or miss, he said.
The data shows that for the first four months of 2022, Paramount+, Peacock, and Disney+ were the most popular options among new subscribers. One of the reasons is the fact that Paramount+ and Peacock are two of the most affordable services.
Although Antenna’s survey didn’t highlight Apple TV+, Apple’s streaming service is also one of the most affordable options. While it has a small catalog, it offers high-quality content.
