London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Have we had enough of Netflix?

Have we had enough of Netflix?

Trying to watch some of Netflix's more recent series all the way through, says Paul Weiner, feels a bit like cramming frankfurters down your throat in a hotdog eating contest.

Readers outside the US may not share the American enthusiasm for competitive hotdog swallowing. But maybe they can relate to the feeling.

We've all spent the last few years, the last two especially, binge-watching, indiscriminately, too mesmerised to click the off-button.

Are we maybe just a little bit sick of it?

That's the fear seizing executives in Netflix's boardroom right now. That Mr Weiner, a 28-year-old artist from Denver, Colorado, who loved the streaming service at first, especially for watching old favourites like Star Trek and The Office, typifies a new mood. That after years of skyrocketing subscriber growth, people will switch off, not just their television sets, but their direct debits too.

Mr Weiner is one of the hundreds of thousands who have already cancelled, prompting a moment of high drama for the company this week as its share price plummeted and confidence in its future wobbled.

People have begun to ask whether Netflix's star, as the world's largest streaming service, is beginning to fade.

Paul Weiner has cancelled his Netflix subscription as he was not a fan of its original shows


"Netflix lost some of my favourite shows," says Mr Weiner. "And I never know which show will disappear next."

He thinks there's more clickbait than there was - enticing teaser clips that don't live up to expectations - and some poor writing.

"There are better streaming deals than Netflix right now," he says.

Netflix was the first to introduce households to TV-on-tap in 2007, entering popular culture with its avalanche of output, and even spawning the phrase "Netflix and chill" as a euphemism for staying in to have sex. But since then many other streaming services have followed Netflix's lead, including HBO, Disney, Apple and Amazon, making it an increasingly crowded market.

"What made Netflix so popular initially was not necessarily its original programming, but the shows it licensed from other production companies, like Friends, giving viewers one convenient place to watch everything they love," says entertainment journalist Tufayel Ahmed.

"With companies now taking their shows off the service and putting them on their own streaming platforms, Netflix faces the problem of having to fill the gap."

They've done that, launching some hugely successful original output, from the lurid regency romp Bridgerton to the brutal Squid Game, high school comedy Sex Education to the touching drama Afterlife. Sixteen million people signed up in three months at the start of 2020 as coronavirus spread the world and discussing the dubious morality of Tiger King or the historical accuracy of The Crown was a way to switch off from the horror show of the news.

But with so many rivals, "all of which are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into competing with Netflix", says Mr Ahmed, it was almost inevitable the company would eventually lose some ground.


Mark Mulligan, media analyst at MIDiA Research agrees, pointing to a trend for "savvy switchers" to skip between services.

"Everyone had more time and cash during the pandemic which meant the market was artificially buoyant," he says.

But now he thinks: "The economy for people's attention has peaked and the amount of spare time people have has run out".

Tiger King provided a shared distraction in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic


There is also a cost of living crisis to contend with, right around the world. And Netflix, rather than lowering prices has raised them, a move that should help shore up the balance sheet, but has proved unpopular with subscribers, who are themselves feeling the pinch, like 38-year-old Natalie Walters from Catford in South-East London.

She hasn't cancelled, but she's switched from the premium service, which in the UK costs £15.99 a month, to the standard version at £10.99.

"It becomes about choosing what you keep and what you have to cut down or get rid of altogether," she says.

Natalie Walters said the recent increase in Netflix subscription price was "unreasonable"


And 55-year-old Peter Biggins, a coordinator from Norwich has done the same.

"I've been with them from the beginning. They have some good shows, but they're not the only player in the market now," he says.

And he's not a fan of the other plan Netflix is reported to be contemplating: cracking down on customers who share passwords with other households.

"If Netflix is going to go after people who have a subscription, they're going to annoy them," Mr Biggins predicts. And it may not have the outcome they're hoping for.

Aram Asai Munoz, a law student in Santiago, Chile, has shared a Netflix account with his parents and sister, who live in separate households, for several years.

Since he first signed up - eager to tune in to crime drama Better Call Saul - the monthly cost of the service has roughly doubled, he says.

Many of his friends have already cancelled over the price hikes and quality of content and he says he might well do the same if the firm does clamp down on password sharing - after all Netflix is a "frivolity" compared to the other bills that need paying, he says.

"Netflix somehow expects that by forbidding password sharing people will become direct new customers, but economic reality dictates the opposite: they will simply walk away from the service," he says.


While unpopular with customers, the new strategy of raising prices and clamping down on password sharing could give the company some headroom, says Julian Aquilina, senior TV analyst at the media research firm Enders Analysis, alongside a plan to offer a cheaper service supported by advertising.

But the impact will be limited. A survey of US Netflix users found only 11% used a shared log in. Some 85% were paid subscribers and the rest were on free trials, Kagan Consumer Insights found.

That doesn't mean Netflix is about to lose too much ground, though, Mr Aquilina says.

"It is not like it is going to fade away anytime soon. It is a great product, people like using it," he says.

"The question is, how many more people it will reach in the future. Maybe it won't be as much as people expected - it seems those expectations are being reset."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
×