The streaming wars are over. Netflix won: Analyst explains
Netflix (NFLX) posted its first-quarter earnings, revealing an addition of 9.33 million new subscribers in this quarter, easily beating Wall Street expectations of 5.48 million. The streaming service did, however, share second-quarter guidance that fell below expectations. In addition, the streamer announced that starting next year, it will end its reporting of quarterly membership numbers. Should this worry investors moving forward or is there more at play? Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Media Analyst Geetha Ranganathan joins Market Domination Overtime to give insight into why she has declared Netflix the winner of the streaming wars. Ranganathan explains her stance: "To a great extent, the streaming wars are kind of over, I think Netflix has kind of won it. And, yes, you're right... this shakeout has been happening in a pretty small way. I think it's going to be happening in a much more aggressive way. We're already seeing talks of consolidation whether it's with Paramount (PARA) or the smaller players, so that obviously is going to play out. We're seeing Netflix also take a complete shift in its content strategy. We used to see them be much more bold with their originals.. There is, of course, now this whole phase of content rationalization... If you look at some of their content titles... they do still have a great mix of their own original content, but we're also seeing a lot of licensed content come on this service." For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime. This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino
