Report: Netflix to Slash Spending, Rein in Future Projects as Subscribers Flee — ‘It’s a B*tch,’ Says CEO

The party’s officially over at Netflix following a disastrous first quarter that saw the far-left streamer lose 200,000 subscribers and predict the loss of a whopping 2 million more in the months ahead.

Now, Netflix is embarking on a course correction that involves reining in its spendthrift ways by slashing spending and cutting back on new programming, with a focus on “quality” over quantity, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. 

In some cases, budgets on new shows will be cut by as much as 25 percent.

“Well, it’s a bitch,” co-CEO Reed Hastings reportedly told employees during a town hall meeting this week.

Netflix has spent lavishly over the years to build its streaming empire, borrowing tens of billions of dollars to fund its original content.  The new season of the popular sci-fi series Stranger Things costs a staggering $30 million per episode to produce, according to the Journal.

The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese, is believed to have cost Netflix at least $225 million.

The streamer also threw obscene amounts of money at A-list talent to entice them to make Netflix their creative home. Ryan Murphy is estimated to have been paid as much as $300 million and has yet to produce a bona fide hit for the company.

Going forward, Netflix will prioritize programs with the biggest return, not the biggest reach, according to the Journal. A key internal metric for success will be the ratio of a program’s viewership to its budget.

“We should right-size budgets depending on what the creative dictates and what the size of the audience is,” a Netflix executive told the newspaper.

Netflix is also looking to lower its costs when licensing shows it doesn’t own from outside studios and production companies. One studio executive with multiple shows at the streamer told the Journal that in some cases, Netflix is looking to reduce budgets on new shows by as much as 25 percent.

Netflix now has to compete against streamers with more resources at their disposal, including Disney and Amazon.  To that end, the company expects to spend more than $20 billion this year on content.

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