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Apple is reportedly losing $1B per year on its streaming service

Apple is losing more than $1 billion per year on its streaming service, Apple TV+, according to a new report from The Information. Apple TV+ is the only service in Apple’s portfolio that isn’t profitable, the report reveals. The company has spent around $5 billion on content each year since the streaming service launched in […]
Apple is reportedly losing $1B per year on its streaming service

Netflix reportedly plans to cut spending by $300 million this year

Netflix is planning to cut its spending by $300 million this year, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The report indicates that part of the reason the streaming giant is looking to cut costs is because it delayed its plans to crack down on password sharing in the U.S. and elsewhere from the first quarter of the year to the second quarter, which means that revenue from the move is now expected to come in toward the second half of the year.
The company urged staff earlier this month to be sensible with their spending, including in relation to hiring, but noted that there would not be a hiring freeze or additional layoffs.
A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment.
It’s worth noting that although Netflix plans to cut costs by $300 million this year, this number represents a small fraction of the company’s overall expenses. For instance, Netflix’s operating expenses last year were about $26 billion.
The streaming giant beat estimates for the first quarter of the year but reported a lighter-than-expected forecast last month. Netflix raised its estimate for the amount of free cash flow it aims to generate in 2023 to at least $3.5 billion, up from $3 billion.
Netflix has been exploring new ways to generate revenue. The company launched its crackdown on password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain earlier this year. In these countries, Netflix requires paying users to set a primary location for their account. If someone they don’t live with uses their account, Netflix alerts them to “buy an extra member.” Netflix allows up to two extra members per account for a fee, which varies from country to country.
In addition, the company launched a new ad-supported plan called “Basic with Ads” last November. The tier costs $6.99 per month, which is $13 less than Netflix’s Premium plan, nearly $9 less than the Standard plan and $3 less than the Basic plan. With this plan, Netflix is competing with other major streaming services that offer ad-supported options, including Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Peacock.
In an effort to lower costs, Netflix conducted a series of job cuts last year. In May 2022, the company laid off approximately 150 staffers. A month after that, the company laid off 300 more people, which represented about 3% of its workforce at the time. Netflix then laid off another 30 employees in September who were part of its animation department.
Netflix’s password sharing crackdown is expected to hit the U.S. on or before June 30.

Netflix will crack down on password sharing this summer

Netflix reportedly plans to cut spending by $300 million this year by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Netflix reportedly plans to cut spending by $300 million this year

Netflix restructures its film units, aiming to make fewer (but better) original movies

Netflix is restructuring its film units and vowing to make fewer but better movies, according to a new report from Bloomberg, which Netflix partially confirmed. The report said the streaming giant is combining film units that produce small and midsize films, resulting in a handful of layoffs, including two longtime executives. Netflix told TechCrunch that these changes were made to simplify its structure and set it up for the next phase of its growth, but declined to comment on how many people were being let go.
Scott Stuber, chairman of Netflix Film, has been looking to scale back the company’s output of films to ensure that more of them are high quality, according to the report.
It appears that this change has already been implemented, as the report comes as Netflix recently revealed its 2023 original films lineup, which consists of 49 titles. In comparison, the company had 85 original films in its lineup last year. For context, a Netflix original refers to both the content that has been produced in-house and the content to which it owns the distribution rights. It’s unclear for now if Netflix would also be scaling back the addition of originals that it didn’t produce, but obtained the rights to — a move that would impact the output of new originals on the service.
One of the executives leaving the company is Lisa Nishimura, who was behind the company’s foray into standup comedy and original documentaries, Netflix confirmed. Nishimura had worked on some of Netflix’s most popular titles, including “Making a Murderer,” “Power of the Dog” and “Tiger King.”
Ian Bricke, who served as the vice president of Independent Original Film at Netflix, will also be leaving. Bricke played a big part of Netflix’s dominance in the rom-com space, as he spearheaded notable titles like “The Kissing Booth,” “Set It Up” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.”
“Lisa Nishimura joined Netflix in the DVD days, and as the company moved into streaming, she built our original documentary and stand-up comedy divisions from the ground up, and established Netflix as a powerhouse in both spaces,” Stuber said in an emailed statement. “Ian Bricke has been at the company for more than a decade, building and leading our independent film team, attracting filmmakers like Tamara Jenkins, Nicole Holofcener, and Mark and Jay Duplass. We thank them both for their contributions to making us a world-class film studio and wish them the best for the future.”
The handful of layoffs come after Netflix conducted a series of job cuts last year. In May 2022, the company laid off approximately 150 staffers. A month after that, the company laid off 300 more people, which represented 3% of its workforce at the time. Netflix then laid off another 30 employees in September who were part of its animation department.
On the editorial side, Netflix laid off 25 people on its editorial staff just five months after launching its in-house Tudum publication.
Earlier this year, Netflix boasted to shareholders it has successfully scaled its decade-long original programming initiative.
“Now that we are a decade into our original programming initiative and have successfully scaled it, we are past the most cash-intensive phase of this buildout,” the company wrote to shareholders. “As a result, we believe we will now be generating sustained, positive annual free cash flow going forward.”
Netflix is scheduled to report Q1 2023 results on April 18.

Netflix appears to be working to bring games to TV with the iPhone as a controller

Netflix restructures its film units, aiming to make fewer (but better) original movies by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Netflix restructures its film units, aiming to make fewer (but better) original movies

Movie and TV app ReelTime helps you track your viewing, check ratings and more

It’s not easy to keep up with all the content being released to dozens of streaming services. However, TV tracker apps make our binge-watching habits a little more manageable. ReelTime is an app for iOS device users who want to track TV shows and movies that they’ve streamed, content they’re currently watching and titles they want to watch.
With its latest update, ReelTime 1.6, the redesigned app now includes ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and The Movie Database (TMDB), as well as an updated home screen and lock screen widgets so users can see upcoming movies and TV shows, changes to their library and watch progress without opening the app. Similar TV tracking apps like JustWatch and Reelgood also include IMDb ratings — but not Rotten Tomatoes or TMDB ratings.
Powered by streaming guide JustWatch and the use of the Trakt API to keep track of movies and shows, ReelTime notifies users of newly added episodes, release date changes, new posters and more, all on one interface. Users can also customize which notifications they want to receive.
Image Credits: ReelTime
 
Image Credits: ReelTime
ReelTime was created by Maxwell Handelman, who launched the app on the Apple Store a year ago.
“ReelTime is not a streaming service, but I’m aiming for it to be the absolute best in terms of entertainment reference and tracking. Since the very beginning, I’ve been listening to my users and adding the features that they want … I’ve got a lot planned for the future of the app,” Handelman told TechCrunch.
Handelman is working on adding new features to the app.
In the future, users will get a discover feature that allows them to find more titles. As of now, ReelTime only lets users search for content they’re already aware of or browse popular titles based on data from TMDB and JustWatch.
The community feature will give users the ability to leave comments under movies and TV shows.
Another feature in the works will let users share their ratings and comments.
The TV tracker app is only available to download on iPhones and iPads. It’s free and doesn’t require any in-app purchases or subscriptions. ReelTime claims that it doesn’t track users or collect any of their data.

Whip Media Group, parent to TV show tracking app TV Time, raises $50M

Movie and TV app ReelTime helps you track your viewing, check ratings and more by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch
Movie and TV app ReelTime helps you track your viewing, check ratings and more