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
Mihir Bhatt appointed as chief content officer at News18 Studios
The media veteran brings two decades of experience across television, digital and radio to one of India’s biggest broadcast networks, Disney+ Hotstar, Discovery+
NEW DELHI: Network18 has a new strategist in the building. Mihir Bhatt, one of Indian media’s more versatile operators, has joined News18 Studios as chief content officer, stepping into a role that will see him shape content strategy, build multi-platform properties and drive brand partnerships across the network.
Bhatt brings more than two decades of experience spanning television, digital and radio, with a track record of doing something rare in Indian media: combining editorial ambition with hard commercial results. At Times Network, where he served as managing editor and chief business officer of Times Influence, he built one of the industry’s more respected content studios, launching marquee properties such as the India Economic Conclave, the Times Now Summit and Leaders of Tomorrow. He also pushed the network into premium OTT territory through tie-ups with Disney+ Hotstar and Discovery+.
His resume stretches well beyond the studio. Bhatt has led Global Investor Summits for multiple state governments, worked alongside the World Economic Forum and played a pivotal role in launching the Indian Pickleball League. Earlier, as editor of Zee Business, he pioneered investor education initiatives that are still cited as industry benchmarks.
At News18 Studios, Bhatt will report to chief executive S Shivakumar and will oversee the studios execution vertical alongside revenue verticals covering emerging markets and campaigns. Sidharth Saini, Hemanth Kumar and Nimar Sarkaria will work under him.
Rahul Joshi, managing director and editor-in-chief of Network18 Group, made the announcement in an internal communication. “Mihir’s ability to build enduring brands, foster strategic partnerships and navigate a rapidly evolving media landscape will be instrumental as we continue to strengthen our position and explore new avenues of growth in the Studios business,” Joshi said.
In a media industry lurching between disruption and reinvention, Network18 has bet on a man who has spent two decades thriving in exactly that chaos. Whether he can do it again, at greater scale, is the question worth watching.
