Shira Ovide: Netflix must grow. It has no choice. Sharks must keep swimming, and Netflix needs to keep signing up as many newcomers as it can. This is the path the company has chosen. Netflix’s blueprint is to spend money it doesn’t have today to land alluring programming and sign up as many customers as possible — and worry about the bill later.
It climbs to $4.19 billion on 26% subscriber growth to 139 million worldwide. Soft growth in the U.S., where the streamer already has significant penetration and where a price hike will take effect, appears to have led investors to push Netflix’s stock down as much as 4% during after-hours trading.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix’s post-apocalyptic survival film “Bird Box” is drawing criticism for using footage of a real fiery train disaster but the streaming giant has no plans to […]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As the fifth-season adventures of “Grace and Frankie ” begin, viewers can rest assured there’s more to come. Series creator Marta Kauffman and Netflix said Tuesday that […]
The company said it would increase rates for its 58 million subscribers in the United States 13% to 18%, its biggest increase since it started its streaming service 12 years ago.
Netflix’s stock is beginning 2019 on a hot streak, rising more than 24% in January to date. Shares gained another 1.5% Thursday to close at $324.66 and rose nearly another 2% in after-hours trading. A big boost to investor sentiment came late Thursday afternoon when UBS analyst Eric Sheridan upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral” and raised his 12-month price target to $410 from $400. Healthy numbers are expected Jan. 17 when Netflix releases 4Q results.
Bird Box, Susanne Bier’s apocalyptic survival tale starring Sandra Bullock and Trevante Rhodes, attracted almost 26 million viewers in the U.S. during its first seven days on Netflix, according to the new Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings.
Netflix’s new chief financial officer will receive $10 million in total compensation, a more generous pay package than was afforded his predecessor, according to a new regulatory filing. Spencer Neumann will earn $5 million in salary and receive $5 million in stock options.
The streamer disclosed in a regulatory filing Dec. 28 that its top executive, CEO Reed Hastings, could make as much as $31.5 million during the upcoming year. That compares with the up to $29.4 million he stood to receive for his work in 2018. Hastings’ 2019 pay package is made up of just $700,000 in salary and as much as $30.8 million in stock options. Content chief Ted Sarandos will also see his compensation go up in 2019, matching Hastings’ $31.5 million potential total.
In a post on the FTC’s website, the agency warns of scammers using household company names to dupe consumers. In a specific example, it cited a phishing email sent to a Netflix customer that claimed the user’s account is on hold because Netflix is “having some trouble with your current billing information.” The email invites the user to click on a link to update their payment method.
ABC exec Channing Dungey’s move to the streamer signals a new front in Reed Hastings’ battle with Bob Iger in the run-up to the Mouse House digital competitor’s debut next year.
The dominant online video streamer started 2018 with almost 118 million subscribers, went on to win its first feature-film Oscar, briefly surpassed Disney as the most valuable U.S. media company, lured the likes of superstar show runners Shonda Rhimes, Kenya Barris and Ryan Murphy — not to mention Barack and Michelle Obama — and is expected to end the year with 146 million subscribers and a likely best picture Oscar nominee in Roma. In a sign of how influential the giant streamer has become, it also got what every celebrity gets — a gentle mocking on Saturday Night Live.
Charter Communications has agreed to refund $62.5 million to 700,000 customers and provide streaming services and premium channels at no charge to 2.2 million active Spectrum customers to settle a consumer fraud lawsuit. On Tuesday, the office of the New York Attorney General announced the deal collectively valued at $174 million, which it says represents the largest-ever payout to consumers by an Internet service provider in U.S. history.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former detective is suing the filmmakers who produced the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” alleging the documentary defamed him. WBAY-TV reports that former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Detective […]
One month after announcing her departure from ABC, Channing Dungey is heading to Netflix, where she will oversee the streaming service’s original content. Dungey will become the platform’s co-vice president of originals, a title she will share with Cindy Holland. In this role, Dungey will make strategic decisions about Netflix’s in-house content. She also will oversee a portion of the service’s overall deals, including contracts with such high-profile producers as Shonda Rhimes, Kenya Barris, the Obamas and Jenji Kohan, among others.
Netflix led the way among all networks and studios with this year’s SAG nominations, garnering 15 nods thanks to programming like GLOW, Ozark, Grace and Frankie and The Kominsky Method. Ozark was among the select group of titles to snare four nominations, along with A Star Is Born and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Netflix just broke new records on consumer spending in its mobile apps, according to new data app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. In November, Netflix pulled in an estimated $86.6 million in worldwide consumer spending across its iOS and Android apps combined — a figure that’s 77% higher than the $49 million it generated last November. That’s a new record.
Channing Dungey is still at ABC, wrapping things up and working on the transition to her successor as ABC Entertainment president, Karey Burke, but speculation about what she would do next is growing. There is nothing official, and it is unclear whether Dungey has even met with the Netflix toppers yet, but she is considered a great choice to join the company’s executive ranks with her strong Hollywood relationships and the respect she has among her peers.
Kira Goldberg, the executive who worked on Twentieth Century Fox’s current hit, Bohemian Rhapsody, has been tapped to be a film executive at the digital streaming giant. Goldberg will report to Tendo Nagenda, the former Disney exec Netflix poached in August.
Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos knows that big players such as Walt Disney Co. and WarnerMedia are coming after his business — and he’s not worried about it. The streaming behemoth saw it coming seven years ago when it began aggressively pursuing original programming of its own instead of depending solely on acquisitions from the TV and movie production studios.
After a social media-driven frenzy, Netflix has confirmed that Friends will remain on the service throughout 2019, putting an end to fears the hit comedy from Warner Bros. TV would be leaving as of Jan. 1.
WarnerMedia’s library of 7,000 films and 5,000 shows may not alone be enough to face off against a streaming giant that is spending up to $13 billion annually, so an NBCUniversal team-up could make sense.
