Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings declared during the streamer’s Q2 earnings interview Tuesday that linear television will go the way of the dinosaur within the next decade.
“It’s definitely the end of linear TV over the next 5 to 10 years,” Hastings said while discussing Netflix’s financial and subscriber results on the pre-recorded Q&A.
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Earlier Tuesday, Netflix revealed in a letter to shareholders breaking down its Q2 performance: “While we always have room to improve, we’re very pleased with how far we’ve come in providing so much satisfaction and enjoyment to our members. For instance, in the US, which is one of the most competitive markets in the world, we drew more TV viewing time than any other outlet during the 2021-22 TV season (see chart below), nearly matching the combined total of the two most watched broadcast networks. And, as Nielsen will announce on Thursday, our share of US TV viewing reached an all-time high of 7.7% in June (vs. 6.6% in June 2021), demonstrating our ability to grow our engagement share as we continue to improve our service.”
Netflix plans to launch its cheaper, ad-supported option in early 2023. The streamer has struck an exclusive pact with Microsoft to help build out that tier, promising it won’t resemble advertising on broadcast TV.
“We’re optimistic that over a couple of years we can deliver an experience that is fundamentally different than the advertising experience on linear networks in a way that fundamentally benefits all the stakeholders,” Netflix chief product officer and chief operating officer Greg Peters.
See the chart published in Netflix’s Q2 report, data cited to Nielsen, below.
