Netflix announces new India original ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’

American streaming platform Netflix has announced a new original called Khakee: The Bihar Chapter starring Karan Tacker, Avinash Tiwary, Ashutosh Rana and Jatin Sarna, among others.

Netflix added nearly 2.4 million global subscribers in the September quarter, far higher than its estimates of 1 million. However, it pales compared to the 4.4 million it had added in the year-ago quarter. In the Asia-Pacific Region alone Netflix added 1.43 million new paying users. Its revenue grew 19% (from $834 million to $889 million) in Q3, excluding foreign exchange, with average paid membership rising 23% (from 30.05 million to 36.23 million) year-on-year. Average revenue per member (ARM) was, however, was down 3%, partially driven by lower ARM in India, it said in a letter to shareholders. It clocked higher ARM in Australia and Korea.

The appreciating dollar is a significant headwind, and the company is expecting revenue of $7.8 billion in the next quarter. The sequential decline was entirely due to the continued strengthening of the US dollar against other currencies. Last month, Netflix said it will roll out an ad-supported subscription plan on 1 November in Canada and Mexico, and on 3 November across Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, Korea and the US. In Spain, the plan will go live on 10 November. These 12 markets account for $140 billion of the brand’s ad spending across TV and streaming, or over 75% of the global market, Netflix said.

The plan is 20-40% lower than its current starting fees for these countries. “A key component of it (paid sharing) is the ability for borrowers, or people using somebody else’s account right now, to access Netflix by creating their separate account. Part of that is transforming their profile, viewing history and information that basically informs recommendations for them… through a separate account path (which) will be especially attractive in countries where we are launching lower-priced basic and ad plans,“ said Greg Peters, chief operating officer, Netflix, adding the feature will roll out in early 2023.