Netflix Banks on Variety in Streaming Wars

As the battle of the streaming services in the UK hots up, Netflix is aiming to consolidate its position as the leader of the pack through its variety of TV shows and films with an extra emphasis on Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

The latest figures released in February 2023 show Netflix has 230.75 million global subscribers, an increase of 7.66 million since September 2022. Rival streaming services Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video do not release subscriber numbers, but it is estimated that Apple TV+ has approximately 25 million paid subscribers worldwide with a further 50 million users accessing the platform through promotions when purchasing Apple devices. Amazon Prime Video is thought to have over 200 million subscribers worldwide.

In the first half of 2022, Netflix lost one million subscribers and reacted by clamping down on password sharing. The streaming service took the cost-of-living crisis into consideration by offering an ad-supported subscription plan for £4.99 a month, a move which surprised many in the sector as Netflix Chairman and CEO Reed Hastings had always rejected the concept of ads on the platform. Though he recently said his assertion was wrong and that he regretted not introducing ad-supported subscriptions at an earlier stage.

The latest addition to a crowded market

But video-on-demand platforms have had to go further to drive subscription numbers in the face of intense competition in the sector. The UK market for streaming services is already saturated with additional providers such as NOW TV, Sky Go, BT TV and Britbox alongside free video-on-demand services including BBC iPlayer and ITVX. The selection of streaming services has now been complemented by Paramount Plus which launched in the UK last year.

In the face of such competition, from competitors both large and small, Netflix has looked beyond the UK and the US markets to attract subscribers in untapped parts of the world such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

Netflix scored a major success through its investment in Asia with Squid Game, the South Korean survival drama, which is the most-watched series on the platform. The surprise hit highlighted the unexploited potential of the region from a TV perspective and helped Netflix to identify an important area of growth. According to a report by Media Partners Asia, Netflix is set to invest over £1.5 billion in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023 with revenue in the territory set to increase 12% this year powered by growth in Japan and South Korea.

Investing in original local content

India, another important market in the region, has also emerged as a source of popular films, with RRR, the epic action drama, emerging as a commercial and artistic success, winning an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Netflix is investing heavily in Indian content as part of a dual growth strategy which has seen the cost of subscriptions reduced to drive subscriber numbers.

As the streaming service looks to expand in emerging markets, Africa has been identified as a region of great potential with Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa playing key roles in the creation of local content. Here, too, the platform has identified an opportunity for growth and the ability to showcase African stories. This is exemplified by African Folktales, Reimagined, a collection of six traditional African tales from across the continent, which has been recreated with a modern slant.

Variety is the spice of life

The decision to invest in diverse content supports local filmmakers and helps Netflix steal a march on its rivals as streaming services look for the next big thing. Offering customers a wide variety of options is a popular strategy in competitive industries. But variety does not just apply to the range of content on offer. Apple has not only diversified its offering from mobile products to TV streaming, but Apple Music has also ensured that it covers all the bases in the crowded music streaming industry by offering customers niche music alongside the most popular genres.

Variety can also refer to the range of services included in a streaming service subscription. Amazon Prime Video’s impressive numbers are boosted by the inclusion of unlimited premium delivery, Prime Reading and Prime Gaming in its Prime Monthly subscription.

In the highly competitive iGaming industry, online casinos also offer players a wide variety of games to stand out from the crowd. This is particularly the case for online slots real money games with a multitude of themes including officially branded films such as Fantasy Mission Force (starring Jackie Chan), action slots and classic slots. To cover as many tastes as possible, the selection also includes Keno and traditional table games such as blackjack.

Ultimately, a full range of genres is the variety that streaming services are striving for in their selection of programmes and films. Stephen Beck, the Founder and Managing Partner of cg42, a management consultancy, encapsulated this objective, commenting: “The health of any streaming service is going to be dictated by the strength of its catalogue.”

One additional area of concern for market analysts is the reliance of Netflix on the latest seasons of established shows as opposed to new content. The shows You and Ginny & Georgia have proven to be popular, but the platform was also boosted by the first season of The Night Agent, the spy action drama starring Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan and Hong Chau.

The end of an era

However, Netflix is also bringing about the end of an era as the platform has announced that it is calling time on its DVD rental arm later this year after 25 years. This reflects just how successful the switch to online streaming has been as consumers eschew DVDs in favour of the convenience of streaming services.

According to the old proverb, variety is the spice of life, and streaming services have discovered that diversification is a sound strategy to attract subscribers. With untapped nations ripe for growth in subscriptions and untold stories waiting to be discovered, the battle for the future of streaming looks set to take place in emerging markets such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes