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Netflix falls as benefits from password-sharing limit to take time

Netflix (NFLX.O) stock fell over eight percent on Thursday following the video streaming service giant sluggish revenue increase raised doubts about how quickly its new ventures will develop.

Thanks to repression on the sharing of passwords and the launch of a less expensive membership tier that is paired with commercials, the business attracted roughly 6 million customers in the second quarter, exceeding Wall Street’s estimates by nearly three times.

Greg Peters, the company’s co-chief executive officer, warned that it would be several quarters before the results of those initiatives were seen because the quarterly sales growth and projection fell short of expectations.

On Thursday, Netflix stock had its second-worst day of the year, shedding roughly eighteen billion dollars in worth. The stock has risen approximately 48 percent to this point in 2023.

The industry was “realms away” from understanding if the highly-touted advertising tier could grow into the next money supplier according to Sophie Lund-Yates who is a Hargreaves Lansdown analyst. “Netflix must extract every bit of profit as possible through various avenues she also said.

Also Read: Google raising price of YouTube Premium to $13.99 per month

The business has been competing against Disney+ alongside Amazon Prime Video in a market that is beginning to show indications of overcrowding in the United States of America. The majority of the business’s new subscribers are from nations where it has lower costs.

“Some folks are using the result as an excuse to take some profits,” Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak said.
Source: reuters.com

Despite this, analysts continued to have a generally positive outlook for the company, with a minimum of 26 of them raising their price goals in anticipation of the new revenue-generating efforts accelerating the increase in revenue in the second quarter of 2023.

They stated that the current Hollywood dispute could not affect the streaming service’s slate until 2024, which might provide the firm an advantage over its rivals given that it has a strong schedule of programming.

The corporation also has a sizable global footprint, which gives it the opportunity to access a variety of non-American programming and protects it from the strike. The popularity of its non-English titles, including “Physical 100”, “The Glory,” and “Alice in Borderland,” has also increased.

“Every other streamer is now increasing prices, while Netflix is now extremely competitive with its ad tier. It is putting all the building blocks in place for future revenue growth,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said.
Source: reuters.com

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

What is Netflix’s new ‘Profile Transfer” feature?

Netflix has announced an update to its Profile Transfer feature, allowing users to transfer their profile preferences to an existing account instead of creating a new one.

In a recent blog post, Netflix stated that the updated feature is now available and no longer requires the creation of a new account. The company described the update as a “much-requested feature” and confirmed that it would be rolling out globally to all members. Users can easily transfer their profile preferences by selecting the profile icon and choosing the “Profile Transfer” option.

Image Source: technosports.co.in

From there, they can select “An Existing Account” and enter the email address and password for the account they wish to transfer their profile. Once the transfer is complete, the member will receive an email notification informing them that a profile has been moved over to their account.

This feature was initially launched in October 2022 and encouraged members to create new accounts to transfer their personal data, including customized recommendations, viewing history, and favorites list.

This feature served as a precursor to Netflix’s recent crackdown on password sharing, where users outside the account holder’s household are required to pay an additional monthly fee of $7.99 for their own membership.

Also Read: Could AI robots play future roles as companions in care homes?

This update is particularly beneficial for users who are transitioning from living with their parents to sharing an account with a significant other or roommates. However, it’s important to note that if a user wants to transfer their profile to an account in a different household, they will be added as an extra member and will be charged the monthly fee.

Despite some online backlash regarding the new paid-sharing initiative, Netflix experienced a significant increase in daily sign-ups shortly after announcing the password-sharing rules. According to research firm Antenna, the streaming giant witnessed nearly 100,000 daily sign-ups within three days of the announcement.

In conclusion, Netflix’s update to the Profile Transfer feature allows users to easily transfer their profile preferences to an existing account, eliminating the need to create a new one. This feature enhances convenience for users transitioning between households while also reinforcing the company’s efforts to crack down on password sharing.

The update to Netflix’s new feature not only provides convenience for users transitioning between households, but it also strengthens the company’s commitment to ensuring fair usage of its services.

Despite initial concerns, the surge in daily sign-ups following the announcement suggests that many users are willing to embrace the changes. By offering this feature, Netflix aims to strike a balance between user convenience and maintaining the integrity of its membership policies.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Netflix Tudum 2023: Everything Announced

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

Netflix recently held its annual Tudum event where it made several exciting announcements.

They revealed Season 3 of Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, and concluded with Heart of Stone featuring Alia Bhatt, Jamie Dornan, and Gal Gadot. In between these announcements, they showcased a glimpse of what was to come.

One of the highlights was a spinoff show centered around Berlin, a beloved character from Money Heist (La casa de papel), played by Pedro Alonso.

Also Read: Microsoft notches record high valuation of nearly $2.6 trillion

The teaser introduced a new cast for the spinoff. Additionally, they unveiled The Archies, a teen musical drama set in India’s 1960s, providing a desi twist to the popular series Riverdale. Another upcoming series is 3 Body Problem, created by the showrunners of Game of Thrones. Lastly, there was a sneak peek at the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

During the Netflix Tudum event, Chris Hemsworth and director Sam Hargrave announced the third movie in the successful Extraction franchise.

The cast of Squid Game, including Lee Jung-Jae, Lee Byung-Hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo, will be returning for the highly anticipated second season, joined by new cast members Yim Si-Wan, Kang Ha-Neul, Park Sung-Hoon, and Yang Dong-Geun.

The Netflix Tudum event also showcased a teaser for The Archies, a musical drama set in 1960s India, featuring an all-Indian cast including Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Mihir Ahuja, Dot, and Vedang Raina. Netflix unveiled the first trailer for Heart to Stone, an upcoming movie starring Gal Gadot, Alia Bhatt, and Jamie Dornan.

Netflix is taking the popularity of Squid Game to the next level by creating a reality show based on the series. The show will feature 456 participants competing in schoolyard games across 10 episodes, with a chance to win a whopping $4.56 million prize.

While the games will resemble those in Squid Game, there won’t be any life-or-death elimination. In other news, Lily Collins will be returning for the fourth season of Emily in Paris, as shown in a teaser where Emily prepares for a Roman holiday.

Also Read: LinkedIn to test ad product for video streaming services

Unfortunately, fans of Stranger Things will have to wait longer for Season 5, as filming has been delayed due to a writers’ strike. However, Netflix offered a glimmer of hope by announcing that Linda Hamilton, known for her role in Terminator, will join the cast for the show’s fifth and final season.

Other announcements made during the event included Lift, an action-comedy, Love is Blind Season 5, the hiatus of Cobra Kai Season 6, Heartstopper Season 2, All the Light We Cannot See, images from Bridgerton Season 3, Elite Season 7, and You.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Roku lays off 200 employees after weak Q4 Results

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

In the perfect example of what appears to be daily job cuts in Big Tech, Roku declared its plans presently to lay off about 200 employees, which represents nearly 7 per cent of its workforce. In an SEC filing, the streaming company stated that it intends to cut jobs in the United States due to economic conditions.

The company estimates that the reductions will cost between 28 and 31 million USD in severance pay, notice pay where relevant, employee benefits contributions, as well as other costs.

“Due to the current economic conditions in our industry, we have made the difficult decision to reduce Roku’s headcount expenses by a projected 5%, to slow down our [Operating Expenses] growth rate. This will affect approximately 200 employee positions in the U.S. Taking these actions now will allow us to focus our investments on key strategic priorities to drive future growth and enhance our leadership position,” Roku said in an official statement.
Source: techcrunch.com

As per Roku, a large percentage of the layoffs will occur in Q4, with the remainder predicted to be “substantially complete” by the end of Q1 2023.

In a statement, Roku said, “Taking these actions now will allow us to focus our investments on key strategic priorities to drive future growth and enhance our leadership position.”
Source: engadget.com

These layoffs arrive after Roku warned during its most recent quarterly results that it expects a year-over-year profits decline in Q4. In pre-market trading today, the company’s stock fell nearly three per cent.

Job cuts in Big Tech have emerged as an unfortunate trend in recent days. Roku’s layoffs arise on the heels of downsizing at Meta, which laid off 11,000 of its employees last week; Twitter, which laid off nearly 3,800 staff members earlier this month; and Amazon and Microsoft.

Even though Apple has thus far been an exception, it has decided to impose a hiring freeze that is expected to last until late 2023. Similarly, Disney is reportedly freezing hiring and planning layoffs, while Netflix laid off about 300 workers in June. Streaming companies, including Roku, have encountered the dual difficulties of an uncertain economy and revenue downturn following a surge during the coronavirus pandemic.

Suhani Jain

Chromecast With Google TV, 4K HDR Support Launched In India: Check Details.

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Roshni Ankola

Google TV and Chromecast were launched in India on Monday. The internet giant’s most recent device supports major streaming services and offers 4K HDR video playback at 60 frames per second (fps). Furthermore, it supports Dolby Vision. A Google Assistant button is included on the voice control for the Chromecast with Google TV. It was initially introduced in the United States in 2020. In India, the new streaming device will compete with the Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max. You can neatly tuck the pebble-shaped Chromecast with a Google TV gadget beneath your television’s screen by plugging it into the HDMI connection at the back of the device. Users can stream 4K HDR content with the gadget at up to 60 frames per second. Additionally, it supports HDMI passthrough of Dolby audio content and Dolby Vision.

Specifications And Features:

Google’s new Chromecast, which works with Google TV, is portable and connects to TVs through HDMI. Customers can access movies, TV shows, apps, subscriptions, and other content through the streaming device.

Dolby Vision and 4K HDR streaming at up to 60 frames per second are available on the most recent Chromecast gadget. An HDMI device may transmit Dolby Audio content. Furthermore, the company is bundling a voice remote with Chromecast for Google TV.

The gadget includes a voice remote with a Google Assistant button that users can use to both find material using voice searches and ask basic queries. The voice remote is made to be easy to grip. If the TV is HDMI-CEC compatible, the device can also be used to control the TV’s power, volume, and input. This can relieve you of the burden of managing many remotes. It includes buttons for entertainment services such as YouTube and Netflix, as well as a Google Assistant button for controlling smart home lights. It also supports a variety of other services, including Zee5, MX Player, Voot, Disney+ Hotstar, Spotify, and others. On top of that, it weighs 118 grams.

Viewers will be able to receive personalized watch recommendations through Google TV on the new Chromecast depending on their various subscriptions. The For You page on Google TV offers individualized viewing recommendations from a variety of subscriptions depending on what viewers have already seen. Users can save movies and television shows to their Watchlist for subsequent viewing. Users can also create a Watch List of movies and TV shows on their phone or laptop, which will instantly refresh on their TV wherever they are. Additionally, they can add items to the Watchlist from their laptop or phone, and the TV will automatically update with the addition. Users who buy the device can also take advantage of a free, three-month trial of YouTube Premium.

Google Cast with Google TV, competitors like the Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick, and Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max are anticipated.

Availability and price:

The new Chromecast with Google TV is presently available for purchase on Flipkart in India for Rs. 6,399. It is only available in the color Snow. According to Google, it will soon be available in other retail locations.

Customers who use their Flipkart Axis Bank Card may receive up to 5% back on their purchases. Furthermore, Chromecast with Google TV is available through the e-commerce website with free EMIs beginning at Rs. 2,133.

Remember that the $49.99 (Rs. 3900) Chromecast with Google TV was released in the United States in September 2020.

Roshni Ankola

I am a second-year student pursuing Liberal Arts from Nmims. I am a painter, I love reading and have a great interest in cooking. I am also a trained kickboxer. I’ve always had a passion for writing and hence in my free time, I work as a freelance writer.

Popcorn Time Shuts Down Making It A Big Win For Netflix.

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Team YTS

Popcorn Time is once known as the “Napster of movies”, has reached the end of its usefulness. Since the app’s initial launch in 2014, the entertainment landscape has changed dramatically. When there are affordable, convenient, and legal alternatives, the public, like with music, has shown a willingness to pay for content. Today’s announcement was prompted by the multitude of streaming video services available to consumers.

Since going public in 2014, Popcorn Time has been avoiding legal closures due to various laws against content piracy. The crackdown was so severe that the streaming service on the Popcorn Time website was discontinued years ago. After that, it managed to stay afloat as an app. Because the service was based on open-source code, it was frequently mentioned by developers online.

Naturally, this was a major source of concern for Netflix and other streaming services, which were losing money as a result of their original content being streamed for free. Large movie releases have also moved to the digital space since the pandemic began. One of the product’s developers told Torrent Freak shortly after the launch that everyone who worked on Popcorn Time was a big movie fan and that most of them had Netflix accounts. The developer believed that seeing a movie in a theater was the best way to experience it, but that isn’t always possible, which is why Popcorn Time was created.
The graph on the Popcorn Time website offers a unique perspective on the events that have occurred. Because it was not legal repercussions that forced Popcorn Time to close, Netflix and others must have brilliantly captured the digital content space for the average user to lose interest in the free service.

“We’re disappointed that we won’t be able to watch some movies at home. Popcorn Time is an experiment to show that you can do something better for the users with BitTorrent,” the developer explained.
source: https://www.techspot.com/

Naturally, Hollywood was not impressed with this concept, and the original app was quickly removed. Supporters persisted, and multiple forks were eventually developed to keep the concept alive. There would be a slew of legal challenges, but that would not be the service’s demise.
The Popcorn Time team told Torrent Freak that the service was shut down due to a lack of interest from the pirating community. One of the other reasons is the simplicity of the pricing plans. Netflix slashed the prices of its subscription plans in India just last month. The most affordable plan in the bunch now starts at Rs 149, but it comes with its own set of restrictions. It’s easy to see why people would prefer to pay such high prices to watch pirated content.

The team noted, “It’s time to say goodbye.” “Popcorn Time is no longer required in the world.” Though the battle for streaming giants is far from over, there are still a number of other places where pirated content can be found that need to be shut down. The way they handle these issues will be interesting to watch.

Team YTS

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