News Broadcasting
Netflix adds subscribers, but fewer than expected
MUMBAI: Netflix reported earnings Monday that beat expectations as it added streaming-video subscribers, though not as many as analysts had expected.
Netflix stock fell more than six per cent after the report.
“The company added 630,000 new subscribers to its US streaming service, bringing the total number of domestic subscribers to 29.8 million. The gain was in the middle of Netflix’s own forecast issued in April but fell short of the average expectation from Wall Street analysts of 700,000”, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said.
“It’s a mixed quarter, not good enough for the stock to move up a bit,” Bhatia said.
Internationally, Netflix gained 610,000 new streaming users, for a total of 7.75 million international subscribers.
The stock has soared 183 per cent this year, which set the bar high for second-quarter results.
“The stock was priced for perfection going into the quarter, hence the sell-off,” Evercore Partners analyst Alan Gould said.
The May release of comedy Arrested Development generated a “small but noticeable bump in membership,” chief executive Reed Hastings and chief financial officer David Wells said in a letter to shareholders.
The company generated buzz from last week’s Emmy nominations for “Arrested Development” and an original series, political thriller “House of Cards,” the first Internet series to garner Emmy nods in major categories.
Netflix, in its shareholder letter, forecast it will add up to 1.5 million U.S. streaming customers in the current quarter. That guidance “looks like a little light,” Gabelli & Co analyst Brett Harriss said.
“Netflix needs to add a substantial amount of subscribers to justify the current valuation,” Harriss said.
Net income rose to $29 million, or 49 cents a share, in the second quarter, from $6.2 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier, when the company was spending heavily to push into foreign countries.
Revenue increased to $1.07 billion from $889 million a year ago.
Analysts had expected the streaming-video company to report earnings excluding items of 40 cents a share on $1.07 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
For the third quarter, the company expects earnings of 30 cents a share to 56 cents a share. The median of that guidance is 43 cents a share; analysts currently expect 45 cents a share.
News Broadcasting
Govt extends suspension of BARC ratings for news channels by four weeks
Move aims to curb sensational coverage amid global conflict concerns
MUMBAI: India’s television news ratings freeze is set to run longer. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has extended the suspension of Television Rating Points reporting for news channels by another four weeks, following its initial order issued on 6 March.
The directive had instructed the Broadcast Audience Research Council to temporarily halt TRP data for news broadcasters for a month, or until further notice. According to media reports, the pause has now been extended by an additional four weeks, taking the suspension into a second consecutive month and signalling continued regulatory unease.
At the heart of the decision are concerns over sensational and speculative reporting by sections of the news media, particularly during coverage of the US–Iran conflict. The ministry believes such content risks amplifying public anxiety and distorting viewer perception during sensitive geopolitical developments.
Industry watchers say the extension underscores a broader push to nudge news broadcasters towards more measured and responsible reporting. Earlier signals had hinted that the suspension could be prolonged further if channels failed to dial down panic-driven narratives.
For broadcasters and advertisers alike, the absence of TRP data continues to cloud visibility on audience behaviour, even as it sharpens the spotlight on editorial conduct.
