For example, Netflix stock has fallen off a cliff as the streaming platform is hemorrhaging subscribers for the first time in its history. As the pandemic winds down, a lot of people who stayed home and binge-watched now are getting back to regular life and ditching the platform, paring 200,000 subscribers from Netflix in just one quarter.
While Netflix is blaming competition and subscribers sharing their passwords, Gary Bauer of American Values says something else is going on as well.
"I can't help but think – and there's some significant evidence pointing to the fact – that as Netflix becomes clearer and clearer in its left-wing political biases, it's alienating its own viewers," he tells AFN. "Most people don't turn on the television in order to get a lecture on politics."
And it's not just Netflix, says Bauer: "Somewhere along the way, whether it's Disney or Netflix or Spotify, some of these big corporations are going to have to catch on that in a narrowly divided country it makes no business sense to be catering to the 'woke' Left."
The pro-family American Family Association has been down on Netflix for years because of its content. Four deadly seasons of the platform's "13 Reasons Why" inspired a few troubled kids to commit suicide – and it dabbled in child pornography with its show "Cuties."
"What you see, what you hear, what you read, what you view can impact behavior," Bauer contends. "And on that basis, America's youth and America's families are being exposed to a lot of cultural pollution which may be a very logical explanation about why 200,000 subscribers to Netflix said 'I'm signing off' and left the service."
An early exit
Things are even worse over at CNN, which announced this week it's killing off its subscription-based streaming service CNN+ ("CNN-plus") just a few weeks after it got off the ground. CNN itself has been mired in last place in the cable news wars, drawing about a third of the audience Fox News does; and now, its brand-new streaming service is headed to the archives at the end of the month.
Adam Guillette of Accuracy in Media says the network was delusional to think people would pay for content they don't even watch for free.
"This is a network that has been failing for years," he begins, "and the notion that they needed to create more offerings for their increasingly dwindling audience suggests that they are even more far removed from mainstream thought than we had even realized."
Warner Brothers Discovery, CNN's new owner, ultimately pulled the plug after the network spent tens of millions of dollars rolling it out at the end of March. Guillette suggests it's an appropriate time for a name-change:
"Based on the viewership, perhaps they should simply rebrand their cable network as 'CNN-minus.' CNN minus the facts … CNN minus the audience … CNN minus the truth … and CNN minus any journalistic integrity."
Meanwhile, critics are noting the short life and quick demise of CNN+. Curtis Houck of Media Research Center says it was a dumpster fire from the beginning. "It died a flaming heap of failure and narcissism. It was obvious to everyone except those inside CNN," he states.
And Houck points out several things lasted longer than CNN's streaming service:
"New Coke. A pack of carrots in your refrigerator. Tom Brady's retirement lasted longer than CNN+."
In announcing the demise of CNN+, Warner Brothers Discovery said it envisions news as an "important part of a compelling broader offering along with sports, entertainment, and nonfiction content."
