Will Netflix get the last Laugh?

Consumer behaviors are always changing. Streaming is the new normal (+74% YoY).  But something else is changing too...where consumers are consuming content. Eyes are shifting from the big screen to the small screen: mobile devices.  Consumer mentions of watching Netflix on a mobile device increased 20% YoY, continuing a multi-year upward trend.

Why is this relevant?  Last week, Netflix announced it will begin rolling out "Fast Laughs", a mobile-first, short-form video feed that looks a lot like TikTok. This move makes sense. Consumers are ingesting short-form video content at a growing rate. Here's what we know about the space:

• TikTok blew up in 2020, and consumer buzz is continuing higher in the current year. LikeFolio data shows TikTok Mentions currently pacing +216% YoY.
• The average consumer attention span is shrinking: currently 8 seconds long.
• Consumer time spent watching a television is falling: projected to be around 2.5 hours in 2022 (down from more than 4 hours a day in 2014).
• Consumers increased their daily smartphone usage by +39% in 2020.
• 82% of Gen Z and Millennials watched user-generated short-form videos in 2020.

Currently, Netflix holds the highest volume of consumer mentions across all streaming peers in the LikeFolio universe. But this space is getting crowded, and Netflix will need to find ways to leverage what it's best at (original content) to continue to hold on to consumer screen time.  We'll be closely tracking this release as it hits consumer mobile devices to see if it can move the needle for the company.