Netflix: Viewing Declined By More Than 7 Billion Hours

We keep covering the world of broadcasting since it is crucial going forward.

My theory is that we have a grand opportunity with Web3. It is going to entail some more infrastructure and improvements on the applications. In the meantime, we can help this along by placing video content on platforms such as LEO which people would normally watch elsewhere.

By having a library, even if they are embedded YouTube videos, we are starting the process of having Web3 as the epicenter of our viewing needs.

That said, we are watching the entire spectrum of broadcasting encounter issues. We all know how cable news is suffering. Late night television ratings are in the toilet. Of late, the topic of conversation is the streaming services.

There is one problem: most of the entities are losing a fortune. How are they going to win the battle if it is costing them billions.

One who is not facing such difficulty is Netflix.

Losing Viewing Hours

While the subscriptions are holding fairly strong, unlike many of the competitors, there is some bad news for the network.

In 2023, Netflix viewers watched 7 billion less hours on the platform than in 2022. This was a surprise considering we are well past the COVID lockdowns and normalcy had returned by the previous year.

While this is opening up the door to speculation, the one reason that makes a lot of sense is the company simply is not churning out the hits like in the past. This causes viewers either to go elsewhere or watch less when on the platform.

For example, if watching something one has seen before, if called away, the idea of returning back is not crucial. This is not the case with something new that someone is immersed in.

In short, repeats do not get the same attention as new programming that excites people.

Will this continue into the future is worth paying attention to.

Other Networks

A major question on the minds of many is whether 2024 will be the year when other streaming platforms step up. Some are predicting that we could see profitability from these entities. To start, they have all taken steps to reduce costs. That will obviously help to improve the numbers.

Revenues should be enhanced by increases in pricing along with the addition of advertising. After resisting for years, the streamers finally gave in. By having advertising, they could close the game.

If this is the case, perhaps streaming will be viable. So far, it is nothing but a cash drain. I still feel that we are going to see more carnage but the moves might surprise me.

Social Video

To me, the long term prospects do not look very favorable.

The rise of social media is going to kill the broadcast networks long term. If we want to play a numbers game, it is in the favor of this.

When it comes to this realm, YouTube is the king and nobody else is close. That said, we are seeing other platforms such as X and Facebook providing more offerings. Let us not forget TikTok as another player.

All of this grabs attention. So far, Web3 is not even showing up but that could change if the applications get better. Search is still an issue in this realm.

We are fully immersed into the attention economy. Broadcast and social media are blending. Where do people spend their time.

For my money, the future resides in the concept of community. Web3 networks have a major advantage: built in audience with monetization.

It is only a matter of getting the libraries of content established so that we can see this flourish.

In the meantime, the streaming wars are still being waged. The fun will continue throughout the year.

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