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, advised CNBC’s “Fast Money” 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 have a look at the expansion of their sub[scriber] base and have 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 biggest month-to-month viewership improve versus its friends in June, in response to Nielsen. Nonetheless, YouTube had 13% of complete month-to-month TV viewership whereas Netflix had 8%.
Rogers’ video platform take comes after Netflix delivered a constructive quarterly report on July 17.
“There was nothing flawed with its earnings in any respect,” stated Rogers, who can also be a CNBC contributor. “However engagement is what drives all the things right here. The quantity of viewing it will get, it drives worth will increase, which drive programming price range, which drives extra nice programming.”
Netflix beat second quarter prime and backside line estimates and raised its full-year steering. However since its earnings report, the streamer’s inventory is down about 6% and is now off virtually 11% since hitting a report excessive on June 30.
Rogers additionally predicts synthetic intelligence can be a “double-edged sword” for Netflix within the near-term. On the one hand, he stated it’ll assist the streamer’s focused promoting and assist reduce 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 provide issues that look extremely skilled,” he stated. “I believe AI within the fingers of the artistic group of YouTube might create a degree {of professional} programming for YouTube which drives its viewership even additional.”
YouTube’s father or mother firm, Alphabet, is up 2% to date this 12 months.
But, Rogers nonetheless considers Netflix sustaining his standing as essentially the most useful media firm on the earth. Nonetheless, he stated a lag is “one thing to observe for positive.”
Netflix spokesperson Emily Goldstein deferred remark to the corporate’s second-quarter earnings name.