Prince Harry and Meghan Markle "need Netflix more than they realise" as their exclusive partnership is at risk of coming to an end.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a massive £80million ($100million) five-year deal with the streaming giant when they stepped back from the Royal Family and worked on becoming financially independent. So far, they've released a bombshell series in which they opened up about their time in The Firm as well as the Heart of Invictus documentary.
Meghan and Harry also released Live to Lead on Netflix, which shared inspiring stories from the likes of Greta Thunberg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. However, it's yet to be announced whether the couple will once again be teaming up with the platform when their deal runs out next year. PR expert Ryan McCormick believes they desperately need to keep the deal.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Ryan said: "The Prince and Duchess of Sussex need Netflix far more than they probably realize because the live streaming platform has such a large audience. Even people who aren't into the royals would not have a problem easily finding them and potentially become fans of them."
The PR expert pointed out Netflix had around 247.2million paid subscribers worldwide as of the third quarter of 2023. Ryan added: "This is a deal that they cannot afford to lose.
"I highly recommend they do everything possible to win the hearts and minds of Netflix executives because if they don't, it's going to be a PR disaster for them.." He also suggested the couple must improve their social media presence.
Ryan told us: "When Meghan and Harry were royals, their Instagram page had 9.2 followers. There hasn't been a new post since 2020. I couldn't find another official Instagram page for the two nor could I find accounts for them on twitter."
He added: "Going through their official site, I was flabbergasted that not only is there no social media handles associated with it but, there's no place on where visitors can sign up for updates. At the peak of their popularity, they could have had thousands (possibly millions) of individuals joining their mailing list.
"Meghan and Harry would have been able to interact directly with those followers and foster a long term bond with them. It's such a squandered opportunity." Ryan said Meghan and Harry should "immediately put a mailing list sign up" so they can be contacted.
The expert concluded: "I don't think Meghan and Harry realise how truly vulnerable they are right now in the court of public opinion. Yes people are still giving them their attention but, for how long? Regardless if Harry and Meghan are seen fighting to save the Netflix deal, at the end of the day it's more important that the deal gets salvaged. If Netflix drops them, I think it'll be difficult for them to get a sweetheart contact with another streaming platform."
