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Netflix subscriber growth slowed. Why?

For the first time in years, Netflix actually lost subscribers in the U.S. What's behind the dip and how worried should we be about the streaming giant?

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KCRW placeholderBy Michael Schneider • Jul 23, 2019 • 4m Listen

This time last year, Netflix added 5.5 million subscribers. In the same quarter this year, they added 2.7--and that growth came from international viewers--the company actually lost more than 100,000 subscribers in the U.S. And all this happened just before other big streaming services from companies including Disney and Apple are about to come online. Part of the slowdown could be because of a Netflix price increase that went into effect in May. And programming-wise--while they had some big critical hits, including 'Dead to Me' and 'When They See Us,' during this period, as well as the supposedly very heavily watched 'Murder Mystery' movie with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, these projects clearly didn't inspire people to sign up for the service. Netflix will have to refine their strategy going forward--especially since they're losing both 'The Office' and 'Friends' in the coming years.

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    Michael Schneider

    Senior editor at Variety

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    Josef Adalian

    Vulture

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