Rachan Ballal
7 Jun 2022
After a successful couple of seasons of Formula 1 - Drive To Survive, Netflix are now in plans of moving into Live Sports by streaming the Formula 1 Season Live for the 2023 season.
From January 2022 to April 2022:
- Netflix lost 2 Lakh subscribers.
- Hotstar gained 42 lakh subscribers.
This also shows an immense shift of sports viewership from traditional cable TV to OTT platforms, because it is very convenient to watch sports on the go just having access to a phone and internet.
IPL 2022 saw TV ratings drop by 33 percent in week 1, while there was a 28 percent drop in week two compared to the 2021 season of the tournament.
I still feel Netflix has comparatively better content and the user interface is the best among all the other OTT platforms. During the pandemic, Netlfix had a massive boost in viewership ( there were 16 million new signups during the lockdown )
Now, going through the post-pandemic phase, there are continuous sports happening to cover up the incomplete sporting events during the pandemic. Hotstar has leveraged this very well by showcasing some of the most-watched sports across the world like the IPL, Premier League, and Formula 1, all in a single platform and providing a very affordable subscription that covers ( sports + movies ).
A massive shift from traditional cable TV to OTT is seen in the recent past. Having LIVE sports on your OTT platform will give a massive boost in viewership and subscription and will continue to do so in the future.
Thus, NETFLIX definitely needs to consider expanding its content horizon and should start thinking about Live Sports at the earliest