Netflix needs to convince investors it has a workable plan to sustain double-digit revenue and earnings growth ahead. Live programming could be key to that narrative.
— but the streaming giant needs to convince investors it has a workable plan to sustain double-digit revenue and earnings growth ahead. , but Q3 revenue guidance was below expectations.
That fueled fears that on a per-user basis, Netflix’s engagement is decelerating, indicating headwinds for subscription and ad revenue growth. Its stock price tumbled to an 18-month low. Ali Fazal on Guddu Pandit's Return in 'Mirzapur: The Movie,' the Haunting World of 'Raakh' and Refusing to Be Typecast Scott Foley Reacts After Prime Video Canceled 'It's Not Like That' After One Season: 'I Think I'm Just Disappointed'stopped reporting quarterly subscriber numbersTo hear Netflix tell it, the fears are overblown.
For one thing, the company said it’s changing to a once-per-year data dump to “keep the focus on our primary financial metrics — revenue and operating profit. ” Just raw viewing numbers don’t tell the whole story, according to Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters.
“There is not a linear relationship between view hours and revenue and profit because all hours are not created equal,” he said on the Q2 call. According to Netflix, live programming punches above its weight for the streamer relative to viewing time. Netflix said that in 2026, live programming is expected to account for just over 5% of its content spend — roughly $1 billion of its $20 billion projected content spend — but only about 1% of view hours.
However, live event programming accounted for six of the top 10 new member sign-up days over the last five years .
“So live events do a lot of lifting for us for acquisition,” said Peters. “They’re good for monetization. They drive ad revenue, fandom. ” Going forward for Netflix, “Live content should play a starring role, as it is over-delivering on effectiveness in driving the business even with lower total viewing hours without the repeat nature of the content,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a research note Friday.
Live programming also plays a big part in Netflix’s burgeoning ads business. The company said 2026 U.S. upfront negotiations are in “advanced stages, and we expect commitments to close in the next few weeks. ” Per Netflix, there has been strong interest in its live programming lineup, including the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, an expanded Compared with some of Netflix’s other bets, live events have been a bright spot.
Games, which it introduced in late 2021, haven’t moved the needle. And while it’s relatively early in the company’s video-podcast push, the viewing numbers evidently were disappointing enough that Meanwhile, Netflix also can “combat the bearish sentiment” among investors in other ways that wouldn’t require huge investments, according to Fishman. Those include TV licensing partnerships tier as “on ramp” to its subscription biz, per Fishman. What about a FAST move? Asked about that on the earning interview, Peters said the company is “going to continue to consider” a free ad-supported service “but we have no near-term plans to launch something.
” He noted that a “free offering could make sense in some markets, but we have to be thoughtful about cannibalization of paid tiers” — and, he pointed out, “having an effective scaled ads business” is “clearly an important enabling factor to make those economics work. ” Pictured above: Audrey Nuna, Ejae and Rei Ami — the real-life Huntr/x singers from Netflix’s “K-Pop Demon Hunters” — with Snoop Dogg during “Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party” at U.S. Bank Stadium on Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis during the Vikings-Lions game.
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