For the past three years, the global media and entertainment industry has been defined by the streaming wars. Every media company created a streaming service to compete. Only the strongest will survive, the legend went. Losers will get stronger or die.
Last year, the streaming wars didn’t end, but a metaphorical meteor approached the world of entertainment as a slow evolution. first time, netflix Lost Customers. Its shares fell more than 60%. disney, comcast Entity NBCUniversal, Paramount Global And warner bros discovery had also changed their businesses to revolve around streaming, so their shares declined dramatically as well.
Media companies still duke it out for hit shows, advertising dollars and, ultimately, eyeballs. But imagine what would happen on Earth if it faced the apocalypse: land wars would become less important. They may even stop. The threat of mass destruction becomes the common enemy.
this is from netflix Latest Quarterly Earnings Report gives suggestions. Netflix added 7.7 million streaming subscribers in the fourth quarter, blowing out analyst estimates that were closer to 5 million. Shares of Netflix were up more than 6% in after hours.
First, good news for Netflix was bad news for legacy competitors competing with Netflix. Those days are over. Now, the industry bands together. Disney, Comcast, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery all gained slightly after Netflix’s report.
Read more: Netflix founder Reed Hastings is resigning as CEO
Media companies have, at least for the moment, found themselves fighting against a common enemy — consumer fatigue. Wall Street doesn’t like slow growth.
Netflix’s big quarter doesn’t yet include the results of forcing password-sharers to pay, a process that will soon kick into gear. This is more good news for Netflix and the larger industry that Netflix may be leading the way. Netflix said it expects subscriber growth in the first quarter to be lower than in the fourth quarter due to the usual seasonal reasons, but expects growth to pick up in the second quarter as more customers sign up rather than lose service because Netflix is forced to share passwords. But it breaks.
The old media world was defined by Netflix disrupting the legacy industry. Now, as goes Netflix, so goes the media world. A band of brothers. like.
WATCH: Netflix shares soar after subscriber beating