A DAY AFTER THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION UNVEILED ITS “CLICK-TO-CANCEL” RULE IN ITS FIGHT AGAINST BUSINESSES THAT MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR CONSUMERS TO CANCEL SUBSCRIPTIONS – NETFLIX ANNOUNCED IT HAS ADDED SUBSCRIBERS — AND A LOT OF THEM — OVER 5 MILLION.

THE STREAMING GIANT RELEASED ITS THIRD-QUARTER EARNINGS THURSDAY WHERE IT HIGHLIGHTED ITS PAID SUBSCRIBER GROWTH OF 5 POINT ONE MILLION – BRINGING ITS TOTAL NUMBER OF GLOBAL SUBSCRIBERS TO OVER 282 MILLION. THAT’S A GROWTH OF MORE THAN 14 PERCENT YEAR OVER YEAR.

NETFLIX REPORTING REVENUE OF 9 POINT 83 BILLION DOLLARS—BEATING WALL STREET ESTIMATES – AS THE COMPANY CEMENTS ITS STATUS AS NUMBER ONE TV STREAMING SERVICE.

THE LAST RISE IN SUBSCRIPTIONS WAS MOSTLY ATTRIBUTED TO NETFLIX’S CRACKDOWN ON PASSWORD SHARING – BUT NETFLIX ,CO-CEO TED SARANDOS POINTS THIS TIME TO THE STREAMER’S VARIED CONTENT CONNECTING WITH VIEWERS.

“This year, we’ve maintained very healthy engagement, about 2 hours of viewing per member per day, and engagement on a per owner household is up through the first 3 quarters of 2024. So if you look at where we’re sitting now, we finished Q3 with some big hits: Perfect Couple, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Nobody Wants This. And we’re really excited about our Q4 slate.”

BUT 2024 HAS NOT BEEN ALL GOOD NEWS FOR ALL STREAMERS – WITH SEVERAL LOSING THOUSANDS OF SUBSCRIBERS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.

SUBSCRIPTION RESEARCH FIRM ANTENNA REPORTED OVER THE SUMMER THAT THE STREAMING SERVICE OWNED BY CABLE NETWORK STARZ LOST MORE THAN 800 THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS – ALMOST 9 PERCENT OF ITS TOTAL SUBSCRIPTION BASE

APPLE TV PLUS LOST OVER 528 THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE YEAR – WHILE HULU LOST OVER 500 THOUSAND AND DISNEY PLUS SAID FAREWELL TO NEARLY 300 THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS.

AND THESE SUBSCRIBERS WHO WANT TO SAY GOODBYE TO THESE PLATFORMS — OR ANY SUBSCRIPTION-BASED SERVICE — ARE AT THE CRUX OF THE FTC’S NEW RULE.

– AS WE REPORTED YESTERDAY – THE AGENCY WANTS TO MAKE IT AS EASY TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION OR MEMBERSHIP AS IT WAS TO SIGN UP FOR ONE.

AND ONE MAN WHO ALREADY HAS BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THAT TASK EASIER IS YOUTUBER JEFF GERLITZ OF WASHINGTON STATE – WHOSE JMG ENTERPRISES YOUTUBE PAGE IS FILLED WITH DOZENS OF HOW-TO VIDEOS ON HOW TO CANCEL EVERYTHING.

FROM UBER

TO SPOTIFY

AND YES, EVEN NETFLIX.

GERLITZ – WHO HAS OVER 84 THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS HIMSELF – TELLS STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS HE STARTED MAKING THESE HOW-TO CANCEL VIDEOS BECAUSE HE FELT THERE WAS A NEED FOR THEM.

“When I began uploading YouTube videos regularly I realized there was a lack of How-To videos instructing people on how to cancel their memberships or subscriptions.  I realized most companies make it not so easy to find the cancel membership button.  I began looking at the search volume for these inquiries on Google and saw it was quite high with low competition.  Meaning, I could most likely get my videos ranked high on Google (and) YouTube and help a lot of people.  So far, it appears to be working.”

GERLITZ SAYS HE RECEIVES COMMENTS DAILY THANKING HIM FOR STREAMLINING THE PROCESS WITH MANY SAYING IT WAS A FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE FOR THEM TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT ON THEIR OWN.

NETFLIX IS GERLITZ’S MOST POPULAR HOW-TO CANCEL VIDEO. THE YOUTUBE CREATOR SAY HE GETS CLOSE TO 500 NEW VIEWS PER DAY ON THAT ONE VIDEO. HE ATTRIBUTES IT TO NETFLIX HAVING SUCH A LARGE SUBSCRIBER BASE – AND — IN HIS OPINION —  NETFLIX HAVING THE MOST COMPLICATED CANCELLATION PROCESS – SAYING IT APPEARS THE COMPANY REVISES ITS WEBSITE OFTEN.

NOW WHILE NETFLIX IS CURRENTLY IN A PROFITABLE PLACE RIGHT NOW, IT WASN’T TOO LONG AGO WHEN THE COMPANY LOST NEARLY ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS – BACK IN 20-22 – AND ALL THOSE CUSTOMERS HAD TO DEAL WITH THAT CANCELLATION PROCESS.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M LAUREN TAYLOR.

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