With media in upheaval, Netflix stays out of the fray

Netflix’s second-quarter earnings report contained no bombshells, and that’s just fine for the company and its investors.

In recent weeks, Paramount Global has agreed to merge with Skydance Media. Warner Bros. Discovery is considering all options for its future and may lose broadcast rights to the NBA.

While the media and entertainment landscape around Netflix is in a state of change, the world’s largest streamer is fine with the status quo.

“If we execute well — better stories, easier discovery and more fandom — while also establishing ourselves in newer areas like live, games and advertising, we believe that we have a lot more room to grow,” Netflix said in its quarterly shareholder letter. “Because when we delight people with our entertainment, Netflix can drive higher engagement, revenue and profit than the competition. This in turn creates a more loved and valued entertainment company — for our members, creators and shareholders — that we can strengthen and grow over time.”

Netflix classified the streaming, pay TV, film, gaming and branded advertising market as a $600 billion industry in terms of total annual sales, noting the company accounts for about 6% of that revenue.

The streamer added more than 8 million subscribers in the quarter. It now has more than 277 million global customers, making it by far the largest subscription streaming service in the world. Netflix’s market valuation as of Thursday’s market close is $277 billion.

Nielsen statistics show Netflix as the second most-watched streaming service in the U.S., trailing only YouTube. But rather than worry about YouTube’s competition, Netflix is content to focus on the other 80% of the TV market, the company reiterated.

“Looking to the future, we believe our biggest opportunity is winning a larger share of the 80%+ of TV time (primarily linear and streaming) that neither Netflix nor YouTube has today,” the company said.

While Warner and Disney announced a new cross-company bundle in May that will give consumers the ability to buy Max with Disney’s suite of streaming services for a discount, Netflix made a point to say it feels no need to engage with the competition.

“We haven’t bundled Netflix solely with other streamers like Disney+ or Max because Netflix already operates as a go-to destination for entertainment thanks to the breadth and variety of our slate and superior product experience,” Netflix said. “This has driven industry leading penetration, engagement and retention for us, which limits the benefit to Netflix of bundling directly with other.”

Netflix’s focus remains building its advertising business and adding streaming subscribers on the back of its strength of content.

It’s not the most dramatic of narratives. It may not make for a great Netflix series.

But as an investment, shareholders will happily take it.

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