Competition between streaming platforms has continued to become increasingly heated over the last several months. While this is nothing unexpected in business, the battle between platforms has seen an increase in news coverage because of everything happening at Netflix. While it’s much too early to consider Netflix down for the count, there is more evidence now to suggest customers aren’t as happy with the platform as they once were.
According to surveys from Whip Media, Netflix is getting a far more mixed reception than it’s used to. In terms of overall satisfaction, Netflix has dropped 10% year-to-year with a score now of 80%. This places it fourth, ranking it behind HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu respectively. It’s also only one point ahead of its next competitor in fifth, Paramount+.
This is where things start to get a bit more interesting, in both a good and bad way, for Netflix. If customers had to choose only one service to have, 31% would still go with Netflix. This is down from 41% the year prior. HBO Max sits in second having gone from 13% last year to 19% this year. Disney+ also showed some gains, from 9% to 14%, eating up some of the numbers that Netflix shed.
But this is where things really hurt, when the survey results look at perceived value. When asking customers how they feel about the value of the service, Netflix is 9th, behind AppleTV+ with 62% expressing they are either satisfied, or very satisfied. Again, this statistic is measuring how satisfied people are with the value of service compared to what they’re paying for it. Is it any coincidence that Netflix would rank last when their rates are amongst the highest?
Netflix previously made its name on offering programming culled from other networks- before they all had their own streaming services- while also providing its own original content. Gone are the heavy hitters like “The Office” (gone to NBC Universal’s Peacock), “Friends” (HBO Max), and even “Frasier” (Paramount+). Yes “Frasier” is worth mentioning here, we WILL fight you on this.
And where once Netflix could greenlight anything they wanted to, they have to be more selective, and can’t just throw money around anymore.
Netflix is still undergoing course correction in terms of layoffs and a planned advertisement-included subscription tier. It’s still too early to tell what’s going to happen with them in the long run, but it’s not all gloom and doom yet. As long as they can maintain their status as the one service people don’t want to get rid of, they have something to hold on to. Still, a 10% drop in that figure from last year to now is a sign they can’t hang their hat on that peg for much longer.
