Netflix boss Reed Hastings has predicted that standard TV will be “dead” in ten years or less and that all series and movies will be streamed through platforms like Netflix.
The company’s co-founder made the prediction during an investor call earlier this week. He is confident about the success of streaming, despite its dismal results earlier this year. In April, Netflix’s stock dropped by 35%, which meant that $35 billion USD was instantly wiped off its value. Netflix’s first-quarter profit this year was $1.6 billion, down from $1.7 billion from the year-earlier quarter.
However, Netflix’s second-quarter earnings aren’t as bad as expected. When asked about the positive result, Hastings told investors: “We’re improving everything we do around marketing, improving the service, the merchandising, and all of that solely pays off,” he said.
“If there was a single thing [that boosted the results], we might say Stranger Things. But again, we’re talking about losing one million instead of losing two million. So our excitement is tempered by the less bad results. But looking forward, streaming is working everywhere – everyone is pouring in. It’s definitely the end of linear TV over the next five, 10 years. So very bullish on streaming.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Netflix will be charging users in five countries in Central and South America an extra US $2.99 a month to share their accounts with other users. It warned that this new charge will eventually be rolled out all over the world.
“It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly,” said Netflix’s director of product innovation, Chengyi Long, in a statement about the frequency of shared Netflix account. “But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve our service.”
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