Over the past 25 years, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has changed the film and television landscape. The company has amassed nearly 221 million subscribers across 190 countries, billions of hours watched for popular series like “Stranger Things,” and along the way has racked up 226 awards.
Since going public in 2002, the company and its subscription-based business model have been an immediate hit with customers from its humble beginnings as a DVD-mail rental service to the streaming juggernaut it became.
Fast forward 20 years and things are looking different for the storied streamer. Though Netflix is still dominating the streamers in terms of overall subscriber base, with nearly 220.7 million subscribers, Disney+ (NYSE:DIS) is catching up, with 152.2 million since launching in 2019.
On July 19, Netflix announced its second-quarter earnings. The company beat expectations, but in the critical area of subscriber growth it lost an estimated 970,000 subscribers. That was better than than the 2 million projected loss but compared unfavorably to rival Disney+, which gained 14.4 million new subscribers in its last quarter.
As Netflix suffers losses in its massive subscriber base, it is looking to generate revenue by changing its long-standing business model by including advertisements and cracking down on password sharing.
NFLX shares declined $1.71 to $243.49.
