Big Changes Coming To Netflix In 2024 And Beyond
While streaming has become many people's principal method of TV consumption, the streaming landscape remains as volatile as ever. It was just in 2023, for example, that parent company Warner Bros. Discovery dropped the "HBO" from HBO Max, controversially rechristening the streaming service to the simpler "Max." Another one of the biggest streaming stories that year was Netflix's decision to crack down on password sharing with anyone outside of a single household.
Netflix is primed for what could be considered an atypical 2024, given that "Stranger Things," "Wednesday" and other major shows won't return to Netflix until 2025 as a result of the months-long WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes impacting their production. Beyond these delays to some of the series on its slate of upcoming releases, plenty of additional changes are already confirmed for the streaming company's future. Here are some of the biggest ways Netflix will work a little differently in 2024 and beyond.
Subscriptions will become even more expensive
A letter Netflix circulated to its shareholders at the start of 2024 all but confirms that, at some point during the year, subscribers will end up having to pay more for access to the streaming service. Six pages into a 16-page document breaking down the company's finances, a section about monetization outlines how Netflix plans on occasionally increasing subscription fees. Forthcoming improvements to the product are cited as justification for those price hikes.
The one group already guaranteed to pay more for Netflix is subscribers who are currently on its $11.99/month plan. In July 2023, the streaming service removed access to what was then a $9.99/month plan, offering instead a $6.99 option with ads, or a $15.49 ad-free alternative. That said, Netflix removed this option for new customers, allowing only existing subscribers to remain on the price tier. Then, a few months later, those customers had to pay an additional $2/month.
Netflix told investors at the start of 2024 that it would begin removing subscribers from this cheaper, standard plan in Canada and the UK before moving onto other countries. Those users will have to switch to either its ad-based tier or the significantly more expensive ad-free tier instead.
Live sports entertainment is coming to Netflix
Sports broadcasts remain one of the biggest blind spots for streaming services, largely due to lucrative deals keeping many of the largest sporting brands predominately on traditional network TV. This is slowly starting to change, however — Max now broadcasts some NBA games, for example, and the 2024 Super Bowl will stream on Paramount+.
Netflix too is getting in on live sports — or more accurately, sports entertainment — after announcing in January 2024 that the company purchased the rights to exclusively broadcast leading professional wrestling company WWE's flagship weekly TV show, titled "Monday Night Raw." WWE broadcasts won't actually kick off until January 2025 but this significant addition to Netflix's portfolio could still affect the streaming service in the meantime.
It's possible, for instance, that Netflix tests out the technology needed to stream WWE shows ahead of the January debut of "Raw." It's also possible the pro wrestling show's $5 billion price tag affects subscription fees sooner rather than later. Whatever the case may be, securing the rights to "Raw" means significant changes are coming to Netflix that, in conjunction with its relatively new ad-based plan, bring the streaming service one step closer to a traditional TV model.
Netflix House stores will alter the company's business model
Netflix has dabbled with in-person experiences on various occasions, like a moving "Stranger Things" pop-up that both sells branded products and provides visitors with themed photo ops. At the end of 2023, Netflix announced that this component of its business is set to expand significantly upon the introduction of a retail concept called Netflix House, as reported by Bloomberg.
Unlike the various pop-up experiences the company has spearheaded in the past, Netflix House stores will be permanent. The first two Netflix Houses will open in the US, in locations that have yet to be specified, by 2025.
Like the "Stranger Things" pop-up, each Netflix House will include a merch store and themed experiences. For instance, an obstacle course modeled after "Squid Game" is among the plans currently in place for the Netflix House concept upon its debut. Attractions will rotate in and out, presumably depending on what's new to the streaming service at any given time. Also at each Netflix House, fans can order food and drinks themed after Netflix series. So, while Netflix isn't exactly new to the world of retail, Netflix Houses will mark a significant change to the company's business model as its first permanent retail location chain.
Netflix is losing a major player in its movie department and introducing a new filmmaking philosophy
At the start of 2024, the chairperson of Netflix's film production arm, Scott Stuber, announced his departure from the streaming service in order to start his own independent production company. Among the names rumored to be replacing him are former Paramount executive Emma Watts and former Warner Bros. chairperson Toby Emmerich. During an earnings call, Netflix's Co-CEO Ted Sarandos claimed that no significant changes are expected in light of Stuber's departure.
That said, according to Variety, Stuber himself planned to overhaul Netflix's film strategy just prior to his exit, so Sarandos seems to be implying that the company will move forward with Stuber's more recent plans. Stuber, notably, started out prioritizing quantity over quality, greenlighting projects that turned out to be critical duds like the 2020 action movie "The Last Days Of American Crime" in addition to Oscar winners like "Roma." At the end of 2023, Stuber announced a renewed focus on quality. Once Netflix chooses its new film chairperson, then, the expectation seems to be that they will produce a smaller number of projects of a higher expected quality than in years past.
On the corporate end, Netflix is revamping how it pays executives
During the union's 2023 strike, the WGA asked Netflix shareholders to vote against the manner in which the company's top executives are paid. At that year's shareholder's meeting, votes against the then-current payment plan nearly outnumbered votes for it by a factor of three. In response, Netflix confirmed that it's revamping how CEO's salaries are calculated.
In a letter to shareholders following this vote, the streaming service acknowledged the controversy over its CEO compensation packages and promised change in 2024. In 2022, notably, co-CEO Ted Sarandos earned a base salary of $20 million. That number will drop significantly in 2024, according to reporting by Deadline, with Sarandos and co-CEO Greg Peters' base pay starting at $3 million each — albeit as parts of pay packages valued at $40 million in total.
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, then, not only impacted Netflix's slate of releases for 2024 and beyond, but also executive pay at the company's corporate headquarters as well.