07/09/2021

Netflix is Losing Its Cool

The streaming giant no longer shines

There is only one reason I haven't canceled my Netflix subscription. I've been counting the days until the streaming service releases the second season of Tim Robinson's sketch show I Think You Should Leave. (Almost there! It comes out July 6.) But once I tear through Robinson's latest, it might be time to smash the unsubscribe button. Over the past year, the most popular streamerhas become my least-watched. If apps could gather dust, it would have cobwebs.

Netflix is the Kleenex of streaming, a brand so dominant it can stand for the whole of the market. (It's not "Hulu and chill," after all.) There are signs that this synecdochal power is waning, though. Shiny new rivals, particularly HBO Max and Disney+, have rolled out their own formidable streaming libraries. Plus, a constellation of smaller streamers have established themselves by catering to niche audiences. Film buffs have MUBI, Ovid and Criterion; horror fans have Shudder; for anime devotees, there's Crunchyroll and Funimation; the list goes on. As competitors multiply in the United States, they're purloining former Netflix staples like The Office and Friends and coming out with features every bit as cinematic as Netflix awards bait like The Irishman. The original streaming giant is finally facing real competition.

With buzz building for these newer services’ hits—like WandaVision on Disney+, or HBO’s Mare of Easttown—streaming analyst Sarah Henschel says it is understandable that Netflix feels less popular right now. But she sees its dominance as far from over. “Netflix is still blowing everyone out of the water, they’re still the market leader,” she said. Financially, it’s in a good place: Having recently rocketed past 200 million subscribers, it has also finally stopped borrowing money. Henschel attributes Netflix’s reputational funk to Covid-related production delays. What’s more, she sees Netflix as completely peerless in international markets. Operating in 190 countries, Netflix has a formidable head start over everyone else, and it pours resources into plucking shows from around the world that perform across borders, like the fun French-language caper Lupin.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.