Netflix customers are watching less content and opening the app on fewer days each month, according to a Bloomberg story citing unnamed company documents and people familiar with the data.
The company measures activity with a metric it calls qualified play days, and Bloomberg reported that the average account is logging fewer of those days than it did roughly two years ago. Because Netflix has added subscribers, total time spent on the service rose slightly across the first half of the year, but per-user engagement has slid, the report said.
What executives told employees
Bloomberg reported that Netflix executives view the decline as modest so far and not yet reflected in higher cancellations. U.S. churn has remained low, about 2%, the report said, citing research firm Antenna. Still, the trend has prompted internal discussion about whether users are spending more time with competitors or getting less value from Netflix.
“Two things can be true,” Greg Peters, co‑chief executive, said at a recent employee town hall, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg said Co‑Chief Executive Ted Sarandos has told analysts that U.S. viewership is rising more slowly than the company would like. The company declined to comment on internal metrics, the report added.
Company moves and possible causes
The story linked the engagement dip in part to Netflix’s 2022 efforts to curb password sharing, which reduced household sharing per account, and to a series of later changes including a redesigned user interface, stiffer competition from other streamers and what executives described as uneven programming and limited external marketing.
- Netflix in mid‑October announced a reduction of about 6% of its global workforce, roughly 1,000 jobs.
- Bloomberg reported that chief content officer Bela Bajaria and film chief Dan [last name not provided in the Bloomberg summary] were among executives let go in that reorganization.
- Antenna research, cited by Bloomberg, said U.S. churn remained low at about 2%.
Netflix has also been expanding efforts beyond scripted streaming, including live sports and podcasts, and has increased spending on programming. The Bloomberg account said executives are weighing how to accelerate growth amid slowing U.S. engagement.
Industry analysts and streaming competitors were not named in the Bloomberg summary provided. Bloomberg, citing unnamed internal data and people, is the primary source for the engagement figures reported here.
