Netflix set a company record by adding 36 million new subscribers in 2020 alone. Since then, however, the streaming platform has been doing battle with what it describes as the “pull-forward effect” of COVID-19. After its outsized growth during the height of the pandemic, Netflix has been hit with by significant deceleration in 2021. The streamer actually lost 430,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada last quarter amid a somewhat snoozy content lineup in the year’s first six months. But a comeback may be afoot.
The first half of 2021 saw Netflix generate record low original demand shares each quarter, per data firm Parrot Analytics, in addition to its subscriber losses in the domestic market. But a string of September releases has reinvigorated the interest of global audiences when it comes to Netflix originals. Netflix has a trio of international series to thank ahead of its Q3 earnings in October: Britain’s Sex Education, Spain’s La Casa De Papel (Money Heist), and South Korea’s surprisingly popular Squid Game. This week at Code Con, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos even revealed that Squid Game is on track to become the service’s most-viewed series ever. All told, the September slate is driving new waves of demand.
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