Netflix will release its latest financial report later on Monday with attention turning to the subscriber totals.
The global streaming service continues to add new homes on a quarter-by-quarter basis, but according to Paolo Pescatore, Director of Multiplay and Media, CCS Insight, the rate is beginning to slow.
“All eyes will be on Netflix’s subscriber base, especially net additions for the quarter. As we’ve said repeatedly Netflix needs subscribers and it needs them fast. It is still growing, but not quickly enough in light of its growing costs. For 2Q16, the most notable highlight was lower subscriber growth in the US and overseas,” said Pescatore. “Historically, the second quarter is the company’s most challenging in terms of subscriber uptake because of seasonal trends. But we believe that the outlook remains challenging owing to competition, and its third quarter numbers to be impacted by the 2016 Olympic Games and further price rises as costs continue to grow.”
Netflix is increasingly relying on international productions to differentiate itself from its rivals. This autumn sees the premiere of lavish UK production The Crown on the early reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
It comes against concern from some subscribers that its library is actually getting smaller. Last week a study by the Streaming Observer found the US version featured only 31 of the top 250 movies as voted by users of the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
