Netflix, once the undisputed king in streaming, appears to be struggling to get viewers to watch its programs. This has led to Netflix having to return some of the advertising money it received.
Digiday reports that Netflix’s target audience numbers fell far below what was expected, leading to the company having to stop spending some advertising dollars.
Five agency executives claim that Netflix is not meeting its ad-supported viewing guarantee. They are also allowing advertisers to return their money for ads that haven’t yet run. Although the exact amounts of shortfalls vary from advertiser to advertiser, in some cases Netflix has delivered only 80% of its expected audience, according to the executives. Netflix declined to comment.
“They can’t deliver.” “They don’t have enough inventory.” One of the agency executives stated, “They are literally giving back the money.”
Netflix had a very difficult year in 2022. They lost more than 1,000,000 subscribers. Netflix actually expects to lose around 2 million subscribers, but this is not quite as bad as it seems.
Netflix’s decline in subscribers and interest may be due to many factors, including returning employees and the multitude of streaming platforms competing for attention. However, the company’s supposed hits aren’t really drawing in the eyes.
The documentary “Harry & Meghan”, which starred the runaway royals, received some initial attention but quickly fell in the streaming company’s ratings. Forbes reports that the show is not being well received by viewers.
The show was briefly able to surpass megahit Wednesday, but it quickly fell back below it. The three-hour premiere was a bit…roasted by critics as well as fans. What seemed to be a positive PR opportunity for Harry and Meghan appears to have backfired.
The show has received a half-million votes on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. This is lower than the scores of other Netflix series. Some critics describe it as “bland,” “unquestioned Self-Promotion”, and contains things that “definitely don’t add up”.
“Harry & Meghan” has a 14% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes as of the writing.
This was supposed to be the most important show they had, and very few people want to see it beyond curiosity.
Netflix can expect to see their numbers continue to shrink or even stagnate if they keep pushing drek like that. Netflix is not doing well overall, but it could be worse. It may be that many of those who signed up for shows such as “The Witcher”, will lose interest as Henry Cavill, the series’ lead, leaves Geralt of Rivia.
