搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
Netflix loses nearly 1 million subscribers. That's the good news
The media world — especially in streaming — breathed a huge sigh of relief Tuesday.
That's because Netflix's second-quarter earnings3 report revealed the company lost 970,000 subscribers. And while that is a big number — the biggest subscriber1 loss in the company's 25-year history — it is also a little less than half the 2-million subscriber loss the company predicted in April, which sent shock waves through Wall Street and the streaming industry.
In fact, much of Netflix's Q2 report read like an attempt to assure investors4 and the media world it has learned a lesson from April's news, when the company announced a 200,000 subscriber loss — which sent their stock plummeting5 37% in a day, leading to several rounds of layoffs6 and belt-tightening. The report even provides a little good news, predicting a 1 million subscriber gain in the third quarter.
In a way, Netflix took the toughest public hit back in April; this report follows with a rosier-than-predicted subscriber loss and details on a range of efforts aimed at raising subscriber counts again and finding new revenue.
For example, the company confirmed it is working with Microsoft to create a new, lower-priced subscription7 tier which would feature advertisements inside their programming. They expect to launch the service in a handful of areas with big advertising8 markets — New York and Los Angeles, perhaps? — timed in early 2023. This comes after years of resisting placing ads in Netflix shows and a likely recognition that some consumers won't join the service unless this option is available.
Netflix is also testing two different ways to crack down on password sharing, which it estimates results in about 100 million households accessing the service for free. The report outlines two different approaches, now undergoing testing in Latin America; in one group of countries, subscribers can "add a member," in another, they can "add a household," with fees totaling about $2.99 monthly.
The report notes that Netflix has been trying to transition its service from a library of shows which originated elsewhere, to a platform mostly fueled by its own original content. Their statement says they're past the most "cash-intensive" part of that transformation9, indicating the days of $15 billion budgets for programming may be passing.
Netflix's fortunes have often been seen as a bellwether10 for the industry at large. Now with 220.7 million subscribers, it is still the largest streaming service. But it's recent subscriber losses may provide a come-to-their-senses moment which encourages Wall Street investors to take a more realistic look at Netflix and the streaming industry in general.
When the disrupter becomes an institution
I've always thought Netflix's success with investors was based on a couple of improbable ideas: that it could keep increasing its subscribers every quarter without fail and that it could keep funneling11 huge sums of money into programming. Now, with rising competition from rival streamers and customers concerned about increasing expenses, the streamer has to reconsider ideas it has previously12 rejected out of hand.
This is what happens when the disrupter becomes an institution; ideas that were once radical13 reinventions are now conventions which may need to be subverted14 themselves.
With that in mind, here's a few more ideas Netflix should reconsider:
The binge watching model needs to be modified. The report gushes15 about the success of Stranger Things, which emerged as its biggest English-language TV hit ever in its fourth season, with 1.3 billion hours viewed. What the report doesn't note, however, is that the show's most recent season debuted16 in two chunks17, ensuring that fans remained interested in the show over several weeks, keeping episodes in the streamer's Top 10 for a long while.
As much as some fans might enjoy the ability to access all episodes of a show's season at once, it seems healthier for more series to stretch out the release of episodes — allowing conversation about good shows to build, while giving potential fans more time to find a show.
Netflix series are often too long and too drawn18 out. I've been saying this since the streamer's ill-fated lurch19 into Marvel20 programming; too many Netflix shows feel like movie ideas stretched out into multi-episode series, with storylines that sag21 midway through the season as producers try to fill out all the episodes. Better to take a page from the Marvel series on Disney+ like Loki, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel, which all offered seasons six episodes long and filled with content.
Netflix has a growing quality TV deficit22. Even though shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game and Ozark racked up the Emmy nominations23 this year, the service was outpaced by rival HBO and faces challenges from Hulu and Apple TV+. It isn't minting awards-level prestige shows like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black or The Queen's Gambit like it once used to, and that will affect a certain segment of the subscriber base.
Netflix must build up goodwill24 with consumers before it tackles password sharing. Pushing consumers to pay more to share passwords with others will be a tough turn, essentially25 insisting subscribers pay for a feature that they have gotten free for many years. They'll be attempting this while also trying to build their subscriber count by limiting "churn" – the numbers of subscribers who drop the service, sometimes to join a rival.
Doesn't matter how many tests they run in smaller markets; when you say your business is focused on choice and control for subscribers and those customers choose to share passwords, unringing that bell is a serious challenge.
1 subscriber | |
n.用户,订户;(慈善机关等的)定期捐款者;预约者;签署者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 earnings | |
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 investors | |
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 plummeting | |
v.垂直落下,骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 layoffs | |
临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 ); 停工,停止活动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 subscription | |
n.预订,预订费,亲笔签名,调配法,下标(处方) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 advertising | |
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 transformation | |
n.变化;改造;转变 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 bellwether | |
n.系铃的公羊,前导,领导者,群众的首领 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 funneling | |
[医]成漏斗形:描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 subverted | |
v.颠覆,破坏(政治制度、宗教信仰等)( subvert的过去式和过去分词 );使(某人)道德败坏或不忠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 gushes | |
n.涌出,迸发( gush的名词复数 )v.喷,涌( gush的第三人称单数 );滔滔不绝地说话 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 debuted | |
初次表演,初次登台(debut的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 chunks | |
厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 ); (某物)相当大的数量或部分 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 lurch | |
n.突然向前或旁边倒;v.蹒跚而行 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 sag | |
v.下垂,下跌,消沉;n.下垂,下跌,凹陷,[航海]随风漂流 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 deficit | |
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 nominations | |
n.提名,任命( nomination的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 goodwill | |
n.善意,亲善,信誉,声誉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。