Not even Red Notice could save Netflix from losing nearly a million subscribers

The almighty Netflix, protector of transphobes, pusher of Persuasion, and firer of employees, is in trouble. After a decade of promising subscribers engaging, challenging, and all-around better entertainment, before producing so much content that it started hemorrhaging money and releasing the same old junk as regular TV, Netflix’s power in Hollywood is slipping.

In a recent earnings call, the streamer announced that 970,000 subscribers decided that’s enough Stranger Things for them and canceled their accounts. Before you jump out of the window as if the PTA were disbanding, it should be noted that the subscriber dip was lower than projected. The company predicted it would lose 2 million subscribers in April, so it’s not that bad. Just half as bad.

Netflix plans on replacing those subscribers by adding a million new ones next quarter. So how is Netflix going to do that? Well, they already tried releasing another Dave Chappelle special, this time a TedTalk, which didn’t work. So they’re doing what all their subscribers have been asking for: Stricter password-sharing controls and commercial breaks. Unfortunately, those two features—undoubtedly, the two users are most excited about—won’t be ready until 2023. God, we wish commercials were on Netflix faster.

It’s tough to feel that bad for Netflix, especially on the heels of the animation layoffs, the rest of the massive layoffs, the transphobic comedy specials, and whatever the hell The Adam Project was. And, that’s kind of it. People are leaving Netflix because every streaming service has either equaled its content offerings or surpassed them. More than a decade into the cord-cutting revolution, we’re back at cable, a thousand channels with nothing on them that we pay too much for.

Anyway, [sigh] something called The Gray Man is coming to Netflix this Friday. We’re sure that it will be another memorable Netflix Original.

[via IndieWire]