Archive: Netflix set to face a rocky road after recent surge in subscriptions subsides
Class created on 23/01/2022
Headline vocabulary
| Vocabulary | Meaning |
| Set to face | If you are set to face something, it means that you are going to have to deal with it in the future. |
| A rocky road | A rocky road means that there are problems happening. So if you are set to face a rocky road, you will experience some problems in the future. Things will not go smoothly. |
| A recent surge in… | A surge means a very big increase in something. So a surge in sales means sales increased very quickly. |
| Subscribers | These are people who pay to receive a service every month or every year. So if you subscribe to Netflix, you pay every month to be able to watch their content. (If you subscribe, you have a subscription) |
| Subsides | This means something has reduced, it is less than before. |
Main article vocabulary
| Vocabulary | Meaning |
| Pandemic | A disease or virus that spreads very quickly around a country or the world. Covid-19 is a pandemic where it spread very quickly around the world. |
| Numerous | This means many of something. |
| On the wane | On the wane means that something is not as good as before. So if someone’s popularity is on the wane, they are becoming less popular. |
| Investors | These are the people who put money into a company to own a share of the company. A share could be a 2% share of the company for example. They invest in the company to make a profit (to make money). |
| To pick up again | If something picks up again it gets better than before. So if sales pick up, they increase. |
| Forecast | A forecast is what you think will happen in the future. It’s a prediction. So a weather forecast is what people think the weather will be like in the future. |
| Pointed out | If you point out something, you bring people’s attention / focus on it. You want them to focus on that one point so they know about it. |
| Trend | This is where something is becoming very popular and many people are following or doing it. It is the most popular thing happening at that time. |
| Fierce competition | This is where your competitor, the person or company you are competing against is just as strong as you and you have to try very hard to beat them. |
| To have an impact | If you have an impact on something, you have an effect on it. |
| Tuned in | If you tune in to watch something on TV, you sit down and watch it. |
| It was a hit | If a movie was a hit, or a TV show was a hit, it was very successful. |
| Due to | This means because of … |
| Alarmed investors | If the investors are alarmed due to a drop in subscribers, they are concerned / very worried about it. |
| Set in stone | If something has been set in stone, it has been decided and agreed upon. |
| What lies ahead | This is used to talk about something in the future. I am excited about what lies ahead means I am excited about the future. |
Main Article
The Pandemic has caused numerous problems around the world but for Netflix, the number of subscribers grew to 222 million last year. However, they are now facing a rocky road as the surge of interest in their service due to the pandemic is on the wane.
Investors had hoped the surge in subscribers would start to pick up again, but the 2022 forecast brought bad news, sending shares down almost 20%.
Netflix pointed out that there is room to grow as the trend of customers preferring online streaming companies such as Netflix over traditional television continues to grow.
Fierce competition
However, fierce competition from Disney, Apple and Amazon are starting to have an impact on the growth of the company.
Netflix is spending billions of dollars on content to keep viewers tuned in. Hits during the last three months of the year included a new season of ‘The Witcher,’ and the movie ‘Don’t look up’ which has become the second most popular film ever for the company.
Even though the above were successes, they have had to raise prices in the US and Canada due to rising costs and other challenges.
Although the forecast early this year is below that of last year, which has alarmed investors with the slower growth forecast, confidence still remains high as some big releases are set in stone for the coming months.
So what lies ahead for Netflix? Only time will tell.
To go the extra mile to achieve success
This means that you do more than what is expected of you. So you give a far better service than what was expected.