Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, January 19th, 2023

Not surprisingly, a lot of stuff about Netflix.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, January 18th, 2023.

NETFLIX, OF COURSE
Netflix released their fourth quarter numbers Thursday afternoon and there were surprises. It's not that some sort of surprises weren't expected. Netflix needed to build a narrative that shows they've turned things around and are moving forward.

I did a couple of radio interviews this afternoon ahead of the earnings announcements and I suppose you could argue I'm 1-for-2. I had a pretty strong suspicion the streamer would easily exceed its projection of 4.5 million new subscribers globally in the fourth quarter. And they did in fact do that, revealing they had added 7.66 million new subscribers worldwide in the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31st, 2022.

But the surprise no one saw coming is that co-founder Reed Hastings is giving up the co-CEO spot he’s held for nearly three years to chief operating officer Greg Peters, who now shares that title with Ted Sarandos. Hastings will become executive chairman. Peters had previously doubled as COO and chief product officer.

The company also announced other executive moves, with Bela Bajaria, formerly head of global TV, becomes chief content officer, a position that Hastings had previously occupied along with his co-CEO duties. And Scott Stuber is the new chairman of Netflix Film. 

On the financial side, Netflix's numbers were pretty solid, although they did miss some analyst expectations. The streamer generated $31.6 billion of revenue in 2022, up almost 6.4% from $29.7 billion in 2021. Netflix generated $5.6 billion in operating income, $2 billion of net cash from operating activities and $1.6 billion of free cash flow. In 2023, Netflix says in its investment letter that it expects to generate at least $3 billion of free cash flow, assuming no "material swings in foreign exchange."

There is also a lot of interesting little factoids in an earning statement. My favorite is this graphic, which shows Netflix's share of viewing in a few major markets. Given that Mexico, Brazil and Poland are all measuring just TV screens, I am assuming the actual share of viewing is higher than shown. Especially since Mexico and Brazil are heavy mobile markets.

In other Netflix news, the company apparently plans to begin cracking down on password sharing in Q1 2023, although no details were shared on how that would be accomplished.

There was also a bit of a vague flex in the shareholder's letter about the success of some new content:

● Five of our Top 10 most popular English language TV seasons ever – Stranger Things 4 and Wednesday (both of which hit 1B hours viewed), Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Bridgerton S2 and Inventing Anna – as well as Harry & Meghan, our second most successful doc series ever;

● Four of our Top 10 most popular English language films ever –The Adam Project, The Gray Man, Purple Hearts and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – as well as The Sea Beast and The Tinder Swindler, our most successful animated and documentary films respectively;

● Seven of our Top 10 most popular non-English films ever – Troll (Norway), All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany), Black Crab (Sweden), Through My Window (Spain), The Takedown (France), My Name is Vendetta (Italy), and Loving Adults (Denmark);

● Two of our Top 10 most popular non-English TV shows ever – All of Us Are Dead and Extraordinary Attorney Woo, both from Korea. .

And while I already knew Netflix's ambivalence towards traditional entertainment coverage like TV reviews and features, this paragraph nicely lays it out in case there were any questions:

We believe people typically sign up for a streaming service because they’ve heard about a title “you simply must watch” from a friend, seen the excitement on social media or read about it in the press. Generating conversation is our primary marketing goal because we see that it drives acquisition and encourages existing members to watch more, which in turn helps with retention. For Ryan Murphy’s The Watcher, conversation about the series led to fans flocking to the house, a Saturday Night Live spoof and a spike in home security sales. Our Wednesday campaign, with all our marketing in Wednesday’s iconic voice, generated 1.5B organic social impressions pre-launch, a record for a Netflix season one. Over time, we hope to have more and more of these moments across film and TV, and to replicate these successes on the games side.

On the downside for Netflix, there has already been complaints that the company missed some of the revenue projections and one analyst who is very popular with the media is arguing Netflix should cut content spend given the turnaround on the subscriber growth issue. That feels like a really impulsive, short-sighted idea. In an industry where rivals are cutting back, this is an ideal time for Netflix to continue its original content strategy.

ON THE OTHER HAND
The sorta-spinoff, sorta-reboot comedy That 90s Show premiered today on Netflix and as has been the case with most of Netflix's original comedy efforts, the reviews have been lukewarm at best.

Given the amount of effort and resources the streamer has devoted to comedies - and the lack of overall success - I think there's an argument to be made that Netflix needs to revamp its comedy development team. Most of Netflix's original comedies suffer from similar problems - flaccid writing, weak character development. And those are the things that can improved in the development process. Half hour comedies are tough for everyone right now. There aren't a lot of TV producers with experience on a successful comedy series and Netflix hasn't had a lot of success trying to build its own team internally.

ODDS AND SODS
* Outlander will return to Starz for an 8th season. The channel has also ordered the prequel series Outlander: Blood Of My Blood.

* Season ten of Last Week With John Oliver will premiere Sunday, February 19th on HBO.

* PBS and the WNET Group are launching four FAST channels on Plex: Antiques Roadshow, Antiques Road Trip, Julia Child and PBS Nature. It's worth noting that these FAST channels are already available elsewhere, including on Pluto TV.

* Speaking of Pluto, that AVOD has added three more FAST channels to its lineup: Blue Bloods, Top Gear and Rawhide.

* HBO Max has canceled the Gossip Girl reboot after two seasons. Showrunner Josh Safran says that the show will be shopped around elsewhere, but given the lackluster fan and critical response to season two as well as the expense related to the large cast, I would be surprised if anyone bites.


TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW FOR THURSDAY:

AlKhallat+ (Netflix)
Hush Season Finale (ALLBLK)
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales Of The Macabre (Netflix)
Mystic (UP tv)
Sorry About The Demon (Shudder)
That 90s Show Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Silence Series Premiere (Topic)
Web Of Death (Hulu)

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU FRIDAY!

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.