From humble beginnings as a DVD delivery service, to one of the largest and most innovative streaming service in the world. Producing many popular shows and movies over the years, such as Squid Games, Stranger Things, and Red Notice to name a few, Netflix was on top of the streaming world for quite sometime. This isn’t necessarily the case anymore, competition springing up in every direction have taken blows to the popular streaming service. Things such HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, all streaming service with their own unique catalog that attracts many viewers that were once upon a time only limited to Netflix. In response to these new streaming services, Netflix has made changes that sometimes work, but most of the time sour their public image.
Price Increases
The factor that goes into many peoples decision to sign up for a streaming service, is the price. Netflix has been subject to multiple price changes, that have made people more and more frustrated. Right now the standard Netflix deal is 15.49, which includes two people that can watch at the same time, the basic things such as access to the whole catalog, and HD is available but there is no Ultra HD. It seems every year there is another price change that many don’t see as warranted.
Catalog Issues
Before all the competition came into the fray, Netflix had an amazing catalog. One of the most famous shows that they had under their belt was “The Office.” For many, The Office was one of the main reasons to have Netflix, it was a staple of their service for many years. When NBC came out with Peacock, the news broke out that they would be the exclusive streaming place for The Office, announcing that it would be taken away from the Netflix catalogs. This is just one example of Netflix losing key items from their catalog. In 2020, Netflix had 3849 items on their catalog, which was a 40% decrease from the past 5 years, Netflix having 6494 items in 2014. With all the new streaming services fighting for rights and snatching their content for their own catalog, Netflix continues to take blows.
Cancelling all animated projects
The most recent questionable decision by Netflix, it was revealed that many animated projects that were planned to be headed to the service would be cancelled due to declining subscription rates. This is puzzling to many, as there is a wide variety of quality animated shows and movies on Netflix, such as “Arcane” and “Klaus”. The two big projects that were cancelled so far are the comic strip adaptation “Bone”, and Lauren Fausts “Toil & Trouble”. Along with these cancellations, Phil Rynda, the Director of Creative Leadership and Development, was fired from her role. It is a troubling time for the animation world that lives on Netflix.
