Netflix Users Are Watching Less and Opening the App Less Often, People Familiar With Internal Data Say

Netflix has a retention story and an engagement problem, and they are not the same thing.

People familiar with the company's internal numbers told Bloomberg that customers are opening the app on fewer days each month than they did a couple of years ago. Average viewing per person has also dropped, according to those sources, who asked not to be identified because the data is confidential.

Netflix tracks the frequency with a metric called QPD, for qualified play days.

Total hours are up only because there are more subscribers

Total time spent on Netflix did rise in the first half of 2026, but only by a few percent. According to Bloomberg's sources, that gain came from adding members, not from each member watching more.

Outside data points the same direction. Research firm Apptopia says the share of US Netflix subscribers who did not open the app rose 16.6% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier.

The trend reportedly dates to the 2022 crackdown on password sharing. Bloomberg's sources say executives first read the dip as a temporary side effect of fewer people using each account. It did not fade. The concern now, per those sources, is that customers see less value or are spending more time elsewhere.

What Netflix says

Sarandos addressed it on Tuesday's earnings call, Oct. 20. "US viewing is just not growing as fast as it could or as fast as we'd like," he said. He and co-CEO Greg Peters also pointed to strong results outside the US and called the business model very healthy.

Bloomberg's sources say executives have floated several possible causes: a refreshed user interface, tougher competition, weaker programming, and limited marketing outside the app itself.

The company's defenders have a real number to point to. Research firm Antenna puts Netflix's monthly US cancellation rate at around 2%, the lowest in streaming. People are staying.

But staying is not the same as watching. Advertisers pay for attention, and price increases are easier to justify when subscribers are using the product. A subscription that is rarely opened is a thin foundation for both.

The financial backdrop

Netflix shares are down about 29% this year. The company has reported three straight quarters of decelerating revenue growth and has projected another slowdown in the current quarter. It also cut its annual advertising revenue outlook by roughly $300 million, citing delays in rolling out new ad products.

Market data from 24/7 Wall St. show the stock recently set a 52-week low of $65.04, under the low it hit on Oct. 2. The same data put Netflix's market value at about $270.8 billion.

The company has also reshuffled its leadership. Netflix dismissed Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria and film chief Dan Lin and cut 6% of its workforce. Former Disney executive Peter Rice has been appointed to oversee content strategy.

The fixes on the table

Netflix says it is raising programming investment and moving into live sports and podcasts. Bloomberg's sources say the company has struggled to produce breakout hits and to hold audiences for later seasons of existing shows.

Peters also signaled a push into add-on subscriptions. He pointed to the company's partnership with French broadcaster TF1, launched this summer, which the company says is generating incremental viewing.

"We think that the same core benefits to the partner, incremental reach, incremental monetization, would apply in that model as well," Peters said on the call.

Sarandos pointed to a licensing deal with Disney as another example. All five Ice Age films landed in Netflix's top 10 movies after arriving in October. "It is a win-win deal," he said.

Peters gave no specifics on additional partnerships. He said the company will sequence such opportunities against its other growth priorities.

What remains open

Netflix has not published QPD figures, and the declines described come from anonymous sources and third-party estimates. The company's own statement on the call goes only as far as saying US viewing growth is slower than it wants.

The open question is whether live sports, podcasts, licensed Disney titles and partner add-ons can lift how often Americans open the app. The next quarterly report is where investors will look for evidence.