If Netflix is stumbling will Wall Street renew or cancel?

theguardian.com:

Twelve years ago Jeff Bewkes, then chief executive of Time Warner, compared Netflix to the Albanian army. “It’s a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world? I don’t think so,” Bewkes told the New York Times, disparaging the streaming service’s ability to take on the established media players.

Well, the Albanian army won. Time Warner followed Netflix into streaming, NBCUniversal and Disney came after and so it carried on. In Britain, BBC and ITV invested in their streaming portals. Media was now living in Netflix’s world.

In the years that followed, hit after hit – from Stranger Things to Bridgerton – cemented Netflix’s position as the world’s leading streaming service. Subscribers boomed as the coronavirus made much of the world shut-ins. And then in January the boom appeared to be over. ​​

Globally Netflix announced it expected to add only 2.5 million new subscribers in the first three months of the year, well down on the 4 million in the first quarter of 2021. The news has helped wipe almost $45bn (£33bn) from its value as investors worried Netflix’s glory days were over.

On Tuesday Netflix releases its latest quarterly results. And some analysts worry that increased competition from Apple, Amazon, Disney and traditional media players means the Albanian army is finally on the run.

The narrative was further reinforced last month when Coda beat Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog for the year’s best picture Oscar. The heartwarming story of a child of deaf adults was produced by Apple, Campion’s critically lauded neo-western was produced by Netflix. It was the first time that a movie released by a streaming service had won the top Oscar.

Having redefined the media landscape Netflix was in trouble and now –