Netflix: CEO's political choice increases cancellation rate

A few days ago, we learned that Netflix was planning to launch this paid option that would allow subscribers to benefit from a not very expensive offer and this, without advertising. Enough to increase the number of subscribers to the platform even more. But this summer, across the Atlantic, the streaming service had to face a wave of cancellations following a controversial choice by its co-founder Reed Hastings.

Elon Musk supports Trump, Reed Hastings is pro-Harris

You are probably aware that in the United States, the presidential campaign is in full swing. Two camps clash with on one side the Republican Party led by Donald Trump and on the other Kamala Harris who represents the Democratic Party, the political party that currently occupies the White House.

We knew that Trump was supported by South African billionaire Elon Musk, who did not hesitate to offer to develop an Iron Man-style armor to the Republican after his first assassination attempt. For her part, the current vice-president and Democratic candidate was able to count on the support of Reed Hastings, one of the founders of Netflix. Indeed, the latter had announced to the media The Information to have made a donation of 7 million dollars in favor of Kamala Harris. As a reminder, this type of donation is commonplace in the United States. He had not hidden his desire to see the candidate access the highest functions of the USA by posting this message on X.

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Let us recall that the co-founder of Netflix has been a staunch Democrat for many years.

The donation by Reed Hastings does not go to the pro-Trump

But the downside of giving political support is that it doesn't go down well with supporters of the opposing camp. And when you're a company like Netflix, the risk is losing money. This was not lacking because pro-Trump supporters were quick to react to this donation by calling for a boycott of the streaming platform. On social media, the hashtag #CancelNetflix was widely shared by the former American president's electorate. A campaign that bore fruit because according to Bloomberg, Netflix faced a cancellation rate of 2.8% in the United States in the space of a few days last July.

It should be noted, as noted by the Antenna firm, that this increase in cancellations at Netflix across the Atlantic also coincides with the elimination of the Netflix Essential package.