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Netflix Subscriber Additions Likely Slowed, Growth Strategy in Focus

FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is shown on one of their Hollywood buildings in Los Angeles, California, US, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is shown on one of their Hollywood buildings in Los Angeles, California, US, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
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Netflix Subscriber Additions Likely Slowed, Growth Strategy in Focus

FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is shown on one of their Hollywood buildings in Los Angeles, California, US, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is shown on one of their Hollywood buildings in Los Angeles, California, US, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Netflix could report its slowest subscriber additions in six quarters on Thursday as gains from a password-sharing crackdown ease, with investors looking for signs its nascent ad revenue business is accelerating.
The streaming giant likely added 4 million subscribers in the July-September period, according to analysts' estimates compiled by LSEG. Netflix originals such as "The Accident" and "The Perfect Couple" were among the top streamed titles in the US during the quarter, Nielsen data showed, according to Reuters.
As the pace of sign-ups slows, Netflix is trying to shift investor attention towards other performance measures including revenue growth and margins. It will stop reporting subscriber data from 2025.
"Their focus is to continue to grow subscribers at a healthy clip while also leveraging their scale, ability to raise prices and increase advertising dollars," said Pivotal Research analyst Jeff Wlodarczak.
The company's ad-supported plan has been growing but Netflix does not offer details on the tier's financial performance and does not expect it to become a primary driver of growth until 2026.
This has raised some concerns about its growth trajectory.
"They're making less than a billion dollars a year in the US on advertising, saying that doesn't make them look good," eMarketer television and streaming analyst Ross Benes said.
Some analysts have said the company needs to raise prices and phase out more of its ad free plans to nudge customers towards the tier with commercials as it usually brings in more revenue per user.
The company said in July last year it would stop offering the $9.99 a month basic plan without commercials to new users in the US and the UK, and phase it out for existing subscribers.
Netflix charges $6.99 per month in the US for the ad tier, while its standard plan without commercials is priced at $15.49 a month.
It has not raised the price of its standard plan since early 2022, while its ad-supported tier has been priced the same since its launch in late 2022.
The company, which operates in more than 190 countries, is expected to report ad revenue of $242.7 million in the third quarter, according to the average of estimates from three analysts compiled by LSEG. Overall revenue is expected to grow 14.3%, a slightly slower pace than the previous three months, to $9.76 billion.
To attract more advertisers, the streamer is focusing on live events including sports. Netflix will air the highly anticipated Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing fight in November, followed by its first NFL games in December.
The second season of hit South Korean drama series "Squid Game,” expected to release in December, could help the company draw subscribers in the last quarter of the year.
Netflix stock has risen 12.4% since it reported second-quarter results in July, compared with a 5% rise in the S&P 500 index.

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Entertainment

‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ Actor Robert Duvall Dead at 95 

Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
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‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ Actor Robert Duvall Dead at 95 

Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)

Robert Duvall, who played the smooth mafia lawyer in "The Godfather" and stole the show with his depiction of a surfing-crazed colonel in "Apocalypse Now," has died at the age of 95, his wife said Monday.

His death Sunday was confirmed by his wife Luciana Duvall.

"Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home," she wrote.

Blunt-talking, prolific and glitz-averse, Duvall won an Oscar for best actor and was nominated six other times. Over his six decades-long career, he shone in both lead and supporting roles, and eventually became a director. He kept acting in his 90s.

"To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything," Luciana Duvall said. "His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court."

Duvall won his Academy Award in 1983 for playing a washed-up country singer in "Tender Mercies."

But his most memorable characters also included the soft-spoken, loyal mob consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two installments of "The Godfather" and the maniacal Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now."

"It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall," Oscar winner Al Pacino, who acted alongside Duvall in "The Godfather" films, said in a statement.

"He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him."

As Colonel Kilgore, Duvall earned an Oscar nomination and became a bona fide star after years playing lesser roles, in a performance where he utters what is now one of cinema's most famous lines.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning," his war-loving character -- bare chested, cocky and sporting a big black cowboy hat -- muses as low-flying US warplanes bomb a beachfront tree line where he wants to go surfing.

That character was originally created to be even more over the top -- his name was at first supposed to be Colonel Carnage -- but Duvall had it toned down, demonstrating his meticulous approach to acting.

"I did my homework," Duvall told veteran talk show host Larry King in 2015. "I did my research."

Cinema giant Francis Ford Coppola -- who directed Duvall in "Apocalypse Now" and "The Godfather" -- called his loss "a blow."

"Such a great actor and such an essential part of American Zoetrope from its beginning," Coppola said in a statement on Instagram.

- A 'vast career' -

Duvall was sort of a late bloomer in Hollywood -- he was already 31 when he delivered his breakout performance as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley in the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird."

He would go on to play myriad roles -- a bullying corporate executive in "Network" (1976), a Marine officer who treats his family like soldiers in "The Great Santini" (1979), and then his star turn in "Tender Mercies."

Duvall often said his favorite role, however, was one he played in a 1989 TV mini-series -- the grizzled, wise-cracking Texas Ranger-turned-cowboy Augustus McCrae in "Lonesome Dove," based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.

British actress Jane Seymour, who worked with Duvall on the 1995 film "The Stars Fell on Henrietta," took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to the star.

"We were able to share in his love of barbecue and even a little tango," Seymour captioned a photo of herself with Duvall. "Those moments off camera were just as memorable as the work itself."

US actor Alec Baldwin made a short video tribute to Duvall, speaking about the star's "vast career."

"When he did 'To Kill A Mockingbird' he just destroyed you with his performance of Boo Radley, he used not a single word of dialogue, not a single word, and he just shatters you," Baldwin said.

Film critic Elaine Mancini once described Duvall as "the most technically proficient, the most versatile, and the most convincing actor on the screen in the United States."

Entertainment

Songwriter Billy Steinberg Dies at 75

Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Songwriter Billy Steinberg Dies at 75

Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Award-winning US songwriter Billy Steinberg, who wrote several top hit songs including Madonna's "Like a Virgin," died Monday at age 75, according to media reports.

Steinberg wrote some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s and 1990s and was behind songs performed by singers from Whitney Houston and Celine Dion to Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.

He died following a battle with cancer, his attorney told the Los Angeles Times and BBC News.

"Billy Steinberg's life was a testament to the enduring power of a well-written song -- and to the idea that honesty, when set to music, can outlive us all," his family said in a statement to the outlets.

Steinberg was born in 1950 and grew up in Palm Springs, California, where his family had a table grape business. He attended Bard College in New York and soon began his career in songwriting.

He helped write five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Among those was "Like a Virgin," co-written with Tom Kelly, which spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.

Steinberg won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his work on Celine Dion's "Falling Into You."

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.

Entertainment

'Train Dreams,' 'The Secret Agent' Nab Spirit Wins to Boost Oscars Campaigns

'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'Train Dreams,' 'The Secret Agent' Nab Spirit Wins to Boost Oscars Campaigns

'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Period drama "Train Dreams" took home the Spirit Awards win for best feature Sunday, as both it and "The Secret Agent" gathered momentum ahead of the Academy Awards.

"The Secret Agent" notched best international film as its team hopes to win in the same category at the Oscars next month.

The annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony only celebrates movies made for less than $30 million.

"Train Dreams," director Clint Bentley's adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella, follows a railroad worker and the transformation of the American northwest across the 20th century.

The film won three of its four categories, also grabbing wins for best director and best cinematography. The movie's lead, Joel Edgerton, however, did not take home best actor, which went to Rose Byrne for "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

"Train Dreams" producer Teddy Schwarzman told AFP the film "is a singular journey, but it hopefully helps bring people together to understand all that life entails: love, friendship, loss, grief, healing and hope."

"Train Dreams" will compete for best picture at the Oscars, among other honors.

Big win for Brazil

After "The Secret Agent" nabbed best international film, director Kleber Mendonca Filho hailed the win as one that hopefully "gives more visibility to Brazilian cinema."

The film follows a former academic pursued by hitmen amid the political turmoil of Brazil under military rule.

It prevailed Sunday over contenders including rave-themed road trip movie "Sirat," which will compete alongside "The Secret Agent" for best international feature film at the Oscars, capping Hollywood's awards season.

"The Secret Agent" will also be up for best picture, best actor and best casting.

Brazil's "I'm Still Here" won best international feature at the Oscars last year.

Other Spirit winners on Sunday included "Lurker," for best first screenplay and best first feature film.

"Sorry, Honey" nabbed best screenplay and "The Perfect Neighbor" scored best documentary.

The Academy Awards will be presented on March 15.