The Netflix-and-chill way of life amidst COVID-19 lockdown seem to be booming well for the streaming platform, which has amassed a total of 15.8 million subscribers during the first quarter of the year. The platform now shelters a global number of 183 million subscribers.
Amidst the lockdown crisis, popular shows ‘Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness’ and the fourth installment of Spanish drama ‘Money Heist’ generated (and still does) huge traffic on the platform with a projected figure by Netflix saying 64 million member accounts chose to watch the show during its first four weeks of existence, while the latter on estimate drew 65 million member accounts in terms of viewership.
For the second quarter (April -June) Netflix is of the expectation that it will score 7.5 million added subscribers, as the company plans to release all of its planned shows and films. It will also add to the strokes of lineups acquired titles that were originally scheduled for theatrical release including Paramount’s ‘The Lovebirds’ and Legendary’s ‘Enola Holmes’.
Despite the subscription excitement, the high rise of the U.S dollar during the pandemic affected the revenue growth of the streaming platform. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that, on the international front where the company recorded 13.5 million subscribers driven by strong growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was less than forecast.
Just like other major film studios in Hollywood, Netflix has had its fair share of the pandemic effect. Production of some major titles such as ‘The Witcher’ season 2 was put on hold following the directive of the U.S president on the ban of gatherings that has more than 25 people present.
The shutdown in production has affected the livelihood of crew members and as a result caused the company to create a $150 million fund to support workers affected.
