Netflix is facing some debt issues right now, but the company wants people to know it’s not as bad as everyone thinks.
It was recently reported by the Los Angeles Times that Netflix had amassed around $20 billion in debt and liabilities, but according to the movie streaming giant, those numbers are inaccurate.
Netflix crunched the numbers and presented a figure that proves the inaccuracy of the original L.A. Times story in a statement to Digital Spy.
“The L.A. Times story inaccurately calculates our debt, counting our streaming obligations (i.e. our content contracts with studios) of $15.7b as debt, which it isn’t,” a spokesperson for Netflix said to Digital Spy. “The correct number: We have a total gross debt of $4.8b vs. our equity market value of about $75b,” they added.
According to Digital Spy, Netflix went on to explain that the $15.7 billion debt amount is related to “future content expenses” that every broadcaster, cable network and streamer that has licensing agreements incurs.
The L.A Times has since corrected the original story to reflect the figures stated by Netflix.
Netflix went a step further to prove their $15.7 billion “debt” is not a big deal and shared figures from another broadcast company.
“As a point of reference, Disney/ESPN has $49b in similar commitments for sports contracts,” the statement added.
While it is not exactly clear if Netflix’s financial burdens will eventually trickle down to its customers with future increases in subscription fees, Netflix made a clear point that the company isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
According to USA Today, Netflix added 1.43 million new subscribers last year in the U.S. alone. The company also added 4.39 million international users.
So don’t worry, you can “Netflix and chill” all you want or spend the entire weekend in your jammies binge-watching your favorite Netflix movies and shows.
