Netflix has been the talk of the internet for some time now, but for all the wrong reasons. Once the biggest streaming service platform online, Netflix has seen some major competition as Disney+, Amazon, HBO Max, and Hulu, to name a few, joined the space. And if that didn’t present a major problem already, Netflix tripled its price.
The price hike led to a significant loss, with 200,000 users unsubscribing. Netflix is also projected to lose millions more amid a significant stock drop of more than 25%. The streaming platform has also been rumored to include commercials in-between its movies and series, a move that Netflix once said it would never do.
While shows like Ozark and Bridgerton gave viewers reasons to stay, Netflix continued its habit of pulling the plug on shows that didn’t gain the momentum they needed to receive the same acclaim that shows as Riverdale did. Sense8, Daredevil, Hemlock Grove, and more recently, Archive 81 and The Baby-Sitters Club got axed before they had the time to shine. Ozark, in turn, completed its fourth season and had been one of the reasons Netflix maintained its stronghold.
If the recent problems weren’t enough, the streaming platform is faced with an uphill race against Disney+, Amazon, and HBO Max, all of which will be releasing exciting titles like Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Lord of the Rings, and Westworld. Fortunately, Netflix may be able to turn things around as Stranger Things season 4 entered the fray.
In October 2019, the third season of Stranger Things became the most viewed show of all time, with more than 64 million views in its first four weeks. Since then, it has more than doubled, with over 582 million views. The first and second seasons of Bridgerton may have overtaken it, but Stranger Things may yet reclaim the top spot as its latest season returns to the screen.
The show that put Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, David Harbour, and more under the spotlight was forced to halt productions with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, the long-awaited fourth season will likely win back subscribers and give the higher-ups of Netflix space to breathe.
