Netflix loses millions of subscribers after boss backs Kamala Harris

Netflix saw cancellations spike after co-founder Reed Hastings said he was backing Kamala Harris. 

Hastings, still serving as the streaming giant's chairman and the face of the company, said he had donated $7 million to the Democratic candidate's campaign as well. 

The rate of cancellations - known as churn - nearly tripled in the US after Hastings' endorsement on July 22, according to research firm Antenna. 

Netflix, the market leader by some margin - with 280 customers globally and 84 million in America -  typically enjoys the lowest churn rate in the industry. 

In July, US customers canceled their subscriptions at a rate of 2.8 percent, the highest monthly figure since February. That meant a loss of more than 2 million subscribers.

The cancellations coincided with Donald Trump supporters calling for conservatives to ax their subscriptions in response to Hastings backing Harris. 

Hastings, a longtime Democratic donor, endorsed Harris in a post on X, previously known as Twitter, on July 22. 

A day later, Hastings told The Information that he had donated $7 million to a pro-Harris super PAC. 

Bloomberg highlighted that July 26 marked the worst single day for Netflix cancellations this year, just three days after the donation news broke. 

This increase is also linked to Netflix's decision to phase out its basic, advertising-free tier. 

But experts said the five-day period following Hastings' endorsement stood out.

In the past, Netflix has tried to distance itself from Hastings' political activities. It is wary of offending subscribers who might have views that differ from his left-leaning views. 

But it doesn't always work. Earlier in the summer, he was one of the more vocal public figures calling for President Joe Biden to not stand again. 

In an email obtained by the New York Times, he stated: 'Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.'

Netflix will release its latest earnings - for the third quarter from July to September - in mid-October. Analysts expect this to provide more detail on the impact on subscriptions. 

Netflix's 277 million subscribers make it by far the biggest of the streamers.

The next closest is Amazon Prime Video, but that is largely because it bundles the service for free with its subscription service. 

Until the setback in July, Netflix has been mostly adding customers  in recent years.

A major part of that success has been its password sharing crackdown, which helped it add 13 million new customers last year. 

Meanwhile, earlier this year it emerged Hastings donated 40 percent of his ownership stake in Netflix - worth $1.1 billion - to a charity popular with tech billionaires for its tax breaks and privacy.

Hastings made the donation to Silicon Valley Community Foundation after his Netflix stock surged following a strong earnings report.