There's Been A Rough Run For Streaming Services Last Year, But They're Off To A Slow Start This Year

Through the first six weeks of the year, the ratings for the most popular streaming originals have fallen about 8% compared to a year ago. There was a decrease in viewership of the top 10 originals in the first week of February, which was the lowest point since December 2021. It has been 15 months (and tens of millions of new customers) since that time.

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In Nielsen's top 10 charts for the week ending February 5, you can see that there are very few new hits to be found. Almost all of the most popular streaming shows that week were reruns of previous seasons. New Amsterdam, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, and The Walking Dead were watched more by viewers than the second seasons of Amazon's Hunters, Hulu's How I Met Your Father, or Disney+'s "Star Wars: The Bad Batch."

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It is a given that if the streaming top 10 are full of reruns, it is a sign that new shows aren't breaking out in the market.

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There hasn't been a new hit series delivered by either Disney+ or Hulu this year (at least in the US), whereas Netflix has had one hit (Ginny and Georgia) and a few other smaller titles. Among Amazon's most popular shows, Jack Ryan is the one that came out in December. The two most buzzed-about shows of the year are HBO's The Last of Us and Peacock's Poker Face, although HBO's The Last of Us doesn't technically qualify as a streaming original since it debuts on HBO in the US.

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Netflix viewership is down globally

The phenomenon is not limited to the United States alone. There has been a drop of about 8% in the viewership of Netflix's most popular movies and TV shows so far this year, especially in the United States.

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In February of this year, the viewership of the show dropped to its lowest point since May of 2022. During that time, Netflix was losing customers and all of Wall Street was freaking out about the future of streaming at the time.

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Stranger Things, which was released at the end of that quarter, saved the company from disaster because it had a new season premiering at the end of that quarter. Towards the end of last year, the company released a bunch of popular shows to reassure investors that it was doing well.

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Investors would also be alarmed if there were to be a new slowdown given what happened a year ago. It has been reported that the total number of new subscribers to major streaming services hit new lows last month. The following is what it looks like when you combine Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount, which are the only three companies that are able to report reliable data:

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Streaming Slowdown

There are fewer new subscribers joining streaming services each year.

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Profits and revenues follow similar paths.

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There isn't all doom and gloom in this situation. Despite the lack of new hits, people are still streaming. Americans spent a total of 31.8% more time streaming TV in January than in the same period a year ago, according to the Nielsen Company. Streaming has become the largest source of TV viewing in the US, capturing 38% of all TV viewing.

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There is a possibility that this is merely a blip. There are a lot of big new shows coming out on all the services. In the coming months, Netflix is likely to benefit from Outer Banks, a pulpy teen romance that is expected to boost the company's ratings. It was just announced that Disney+ has released the first episode of a new season of The Mandalorian, which will compete with Amazon's Daisy Jones & the Six series.

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Despite the slow start to the new year, it could be a sign of things to come. The number of new movies and TV shows we watch every weekend has become so accustomed that we feel behind the deluge of new releases that we have become accustomed to it. There are many companies that are cutting back on production, and most of them are realizing that they do not need to pump out as many shows as they used to do. There is still a chance for you to thrive if you give your viewers a good new show every month, and space them out evenly throughout the season.

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Netflix still has some tricks up its sleeve

Netflix has been experiencing rapid growth in Asia, and that trend will not change this year either. In fact, Media Partners Asia predicts that the streaming service is going to increase its growth rate in the near future.

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As per the consultancy, there are three factors that are driving Netflix's growth in South Korea and Japan, accelerated growth in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as a resurgence in Australia.

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When it comes to Netflix, it is easy to tease it for being stubborn. Initially, the company resisted accepting advertising and limited password sharing, but after a while, it changed its mind. One other way of looking at its approach is that, when necessary, it is willing to be flexible in order to meet the needs of its clients. 

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After struggling for a few years in India, Netflix decided to lower the prices in order to retain its market share. As a result, it is beginning to have an impact on the market. This model is now being adopted by Netflix in dozens of countries around the world, which should boost Netflix's overall growth in the future.

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There was a slowdown in the growth of the company in the US, so it introduced advertising to entice customers who were price-sensitive. It has been estimated that about one-fifth of all new ad tier sign-ups in the US now come from this tier, according to data from the antenna. In fact, the MPA report indicates that it is a big hit in Australia.

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Netflix's success in Asia can be attributed to one secret. Korean TV.

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Podcasting — it’s not dead!

The podcasting industry has had a rough few months.

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There was a wave of firings and/or cost-cutting promises among the largest buyers of new shows. They did so because of macroeconomic concerns, but also because they realized a lot of the shows they had bought weren't making them any money, so they sold them.

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Soon enough, several major news outlets published stories about the industry's woes as a result of a few stories that followed one another. The best way to sum up everything that took place was said by Eric Nuzum: "The dumb money era is now over.".

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This does not mean, of course, that podcasting is over - or even that it is in decline -- as the latest report from Edison Research confirms with its findings. It has been reported that the number of Americans who listen to a podcast every month is on the rise this year (after falling in 2022).

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Advertising should be attracted a growing audience. Therefore, it is up to the distributors to figure out how to make more money from their listeners in order to stay in business.

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It's the world's No. 1 song...

As it stands, Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" is the number one song on both Spotify and YouTube at the moment, and it is Cyrus' second No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (following her first No. 1 hit, “Wrecking Ball”).

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The singer is signed to Sony Corp.'s Columbia Records, a company that has had the best 14 months of any record label worldwide in the past 14 months. For 25 weeks out of 52 last year, it went on to be the top song in the US thanks to Harry Styles, Beyonce, Adele, and Mariah Carey, who all performed it. Thanks to Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey, Columbia has had the top song on the charts for all but two weeks this year.

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Even though Universal Music Group still holds the title of being the world's biggest record company at the moment, Sony has the hot hand at the moment.

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Netflix’s first play

Stranger Things is being adapted into a play for London's West End by the creators of the hit television show. Taking the lead in the film is Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours).

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Netflix is committed to turning its popular TV shows into franchises that span experiences and consumer products in an effort to capitalize on the growing popularity of its shows. Due to the lack of rides or plush toys that make sense for theme parks, the company has been moving slowly. Theater, however, is a natural extension.