iWorld
Netflix loses subscribers, to roll out an ad-supported subscription plan
Mumbai: After sticking to only subscription-based plans for a long time, Netflix is currently considering rolling out an ad-supported subscription package for its consumers. The company expects to streamline and nail down the ad-supported services in the next two years.
“Those that have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription,” said Netflix’s co-CEO Reed Hastings on Tuesday. He announced the ad-supported subscription plan at a time when the company’s subscriber growth slowed down tremendously. The company revealed a significant downfall in its paying subscriber numbers with a loss of 0.2 million paying subscribers during the first quarter of 2022.
“But, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice. And allowing consumers who want a lower price and are advertising tolerant, to get what they want, makes a lot of sense,” Hastings added.
Excluding Russia’s numbers, where the company has shut down its service after Russia invaded Ukraine, the company gained 0.5 million subscribers during the quarter, which is lower than its forecast of 2.5 million. Netflix expects to lose another two million subscribers during the next quarter due to macro factors, higher penetration and competition from other streamers.
Netflix reported $7.8 billion in revenues during the quarter growing by 9.8 per cent year-on-year. The company’s operating income stood at $1.97 billion and net income stood at $1.59 billion.
Its global streaming paid members declined from 221.84 million to 221.64 million during the quarter. Additionally, Netflix reported revenue of $917 billion in the APAC region with paid memberships at 33.72 million up from 32.63 million in the last quarter. It added 1.09 million paying subscribers with an average revenue per member of $9.21. In contrast, Netflix’s average revenue per member (ARM) in the US stood at $14.91.
Netflix lost 0.3 million subscribers in Europe Middle East Africa markets (where it added 0.4 million if you exclude Russia’s impact). Similarly, it lost 0.4 million subscribers in the Latin American region. The company saw a decline of 0.6 million in the UCAN region (US and Canada). Only the Asia Pacific and China (APAC) markets saw an increase in net subscribers with ‘nice’ growth in markets such as Japan, India, Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan. Netflix estimated that over the long-term most of its subscriber growth will come from outside the US.
Interestingly, Netflix estimates that in addition to 222 million paying households, the service is being shared with over 100 million additional households including over 30 million in the UCAN region. “Account sharing as a percentage of our paying membership hasn’t changed much over the years, but, coupled with the first factor, means it’s harder to grow membership in many markets – an issue that was obscured by our COVID growth,” the company said in a statement.
Netflix is testing different approaches to monetize sharing, and in March last year introduced two new paid sharing features, where current members have the choice to pay for additional households, in three markets in Latin America. “As we work to monetize sharing, growth in ARM, revenue and viewing will become more important indicators of our success than membership growth,” it said.
In Q4 2021, Netflix completed the acquisitions of visual effects company Scanline and gaming studio Boss Fight Entertainment, which had a negative $125 million in cash. The company also announced the purchase of Helsinki-based gaming company Next Games and expects to complete the transaction in the second half of 2022.
The company said that over the long-term it will pursue double-digit revenue growth, increase operating revenue faster and generate growing positive free cash flow.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
