Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle could face pressure from Netflix executives to produce more
royal content after the streaming service lost 200,000 subscribers in the first
three months of this year, a royal expert said today.
Netflix shares fell more than
25 percent as the company said its user base shrank for the first time in more
than a decade, with total subscribers down in the first quarter of 2021 from
221.8million to 221.6million.
And bosses at the
California-based firm will be looking to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to
help revitalize it after they signed a deal worth $100million in September 2020
but have not yet finished producing any content.
In April last year, the
couple’s Archewell Productions arm announced a documentary called Heart Of
Invictus about people competing at the Games – with a camera crew following
them at the event in The Hague in recent days.
And three months later in July
2021, it was revealed that Meghan is creating an animal series for children
called Pearl about the adventures of a 12-year-old girl – but nothing has yet
materialized in either production.
Now, royal commentator Richard
Fitzwilliams has warned of possible ‘pressure from Netflix executives to get
more royal content’, but he added that filming anything with other members of
the Royal Family was ‘highly unlikely’.
Mr. Fitzwilliams told
MailOnline today: ‘When Harry and Meghan signed up to Netflix for a deal worth
$100million (£77million), according to the New York Times, in September 2020,
the company appeared to be riding high with a huge and expanding reach owing to
the pandemic. It was undoubtedly a cachet to have two royals with a high global
profile as well as produce The Crown which, though controversial, was an
international hit.
‘A year and a half later they
have actually produced absolutely nothing. It is true that they have announced
two series – Heart of Invictus which will follow competitors to the Games,
which were Harry’s creation, and which were postponed twice owing to the
pandemic and Meghan’s animated series for children, Pearl, about a 12-year-old
girl.
‘The dramatic news today that
Netflix are now losing viewers, introducing advertisements and trying to crack
down on the ‘password-sharing’ which is costing them revenue, has led to their
shares crashing by 25 percent.
‘It will undoubtedly lead to a
demand for a great deal more from the Sussexes including some actual content.
The original announcement promised documentaries, children’s programmes,
scripted shows and feature films. It is surely time Netflix had value for money
and it sounds as if they need it too.’
He added: ‘There might well be
pressure from Netflix executives to get more royal content in what they
produce. It is highly unlikely that it will actually involve the filming of or
interviews with any members of the royal family.
‘One of the reasons that the
Sussexes had to step down as senior working royals was that commercial ventures
have to be separate from royal duties. They chose the road they are now on.
‘In 2016 the Queen
participated in a light-hearted video with the Obamas to promote Invictus for
Harry in the United States. This would not be likely to happen again and certainly
not for Netflix.’
The Sussexes could join the
Queen and other members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
for her Platinum Jubilee – but Netflix cameras will not be allowed to film
them, according to The Sun.
It comes after Netflix’s
customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period – and
it is now projecting a loss of another two million during the April-June
period.
Taunting the California-based
company after it posted its losses, billionaire Tesla magnate Elon Musk said:
‘The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable’.
Netflix said the Covid boom
had ‘created a lot of noise’ and blamed the slowdown on the return to normality
after two years of lockdowns.
It also blamed password
sharing for the rise in cancelled accounts, as it estimated that about
10million households worldwide are watching its service for free by using the
account of a friend or another family member.
The company has now started
testing different ways of curbing password sharing in Chile, Costa Rica and
Peru – and could extend this elsewhere if it proves successful. Bosses are also
considering turning the service into a low-fee subscription supported by ads.
