No sooner had Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings reported his company's blockbuster results for Q1 2020 than he began commenting on rival Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Disney+ service. Calling Disney's ability to rapidly grow to 50 million subscribers in just six months' time "stunning," Hastings said, "my hat's off to them."
That doesn't mean that Netflix won't compete, however. Indeed, Hastings announced that Netflix is "kicking up our kids and family content, and animation" to compete with its new rival, spending as much as $1 billion a year or more on development of new shows.
Just this afternoon, Netflix revealed how it plans to steal back a lot of those subscribing customers, or at least try to convince them to pay for a second service. In cooperation with Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) subsidiary Pokemon, Netflix says that on June 12, 2020, it will begin streaming the newest season of Pokemon Animated Series exclusively on Netflix.