Former NBC Cable President Tom Rogers is dialing again his bullishness on Netflix.
The media trailblazer, who was a self-proclaimed “raging bull” on Netflix, instructed CNBC’s “Quick Cash” this week he is beginning to fear — and listed competitors with free content material on YouTube as a headwind.
“[Netflix] nonetheless [has] extra hit reveals than all the opposite streaming providers mixed, however if you take a look at the expansion of their sub[scriber] base and take a look at the quantity of complete engagement time from all viewers they get, the quantity of viewing per viewer has gone down some,” stated Rogers, who’s now govt chairman of AI firm Claigrid.
Netflix noticed the most important month-to-month viewership enhance versus its friends in June, in line with Nielsen. Nonetheless, YouTube accounted for 13% of complete month-to-month TV viewership, whereas Netflix had 8%.
Rogers’ newest take comes after Netflix delivered a constructive quarterly report on July 17.
“There was nothing improper with its earnings in any respect,” stated Rogers, who can be a CNBC contributor. “However engagement is what drives the whole lot right here. The quantity of viewing it will get, it drives worth will increase, which drive programming finances, which drives extra nice programming.”
Netflix beat second-quarter top- and bottom-line estimates and raised its full-year steerage. Nonetheless, since its earnings report, the streamer’s inventory has declined by about 6% and is now down nearly 11% since reaching a report excessive on June 30.
Rogers additionally predicts synthetic intelligence will probably be a “double-edged sword” for Netflix within the near-term. On the one hand, he stated it should help the streamer’s focused promoting and assist minimize programming prices. But it surely additionally permits unbiased content material creators a leg up, which advantages YouTube.
“The road between skilled and newbie content material goes to get increasingly more blurry as AI instruments within the fingers of amateurs permit them to supply issues that look extremely skilled,” he stated. “I feel AI within the fingers of the artistic group of YouTube might create a stage {of professional} programming for YouTube which drives its viewership even additional.”
YouTube’s mum or dad firm, Alphabet, is up 2% year-to-date.
But, Rogers nonetheless sees Netflix sustaining its standing as essentially the most useful media firm on the earth. Nonetheless, he stated a lag is “one thing to look at for positive.”
Netflix spokesperson Emily Goldstein deferred remark to the corporate’s second-quarter earnings name.