Each month of the year so far has been big for Netflix.  In January, shows like “Parks and Recreation,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “New Girl” added new seasons. In February, Netflix originals like “Fuller House” and “Love” debuted, movies like “Dope” and important seasons of television shows such as “Better Call Saul” and “Mad Men” became available to stream. “House of Cards” season 4 owned the month March, and “The Ranch” and season 2 of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” have so far dominated April.

May is the first boring month of the year for Netflix.

Headlining this month for Netflix is season 2 of “Grace and Frankie.” While the show is hilarious and does not get the press credit it deserves for bringing Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston together for a TV show, it hardly calls for the same excitement as the previous four months.

This small number of additions is not necessarily a bad thing, as it also means not much is leaving. The only notable titles leaving the site in May are ones like “Full Metal Jacket” and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” They’re movies you’ve either already seen or have been around long enough that you cannot blame their Netflix unavailability for not watching them. The only big show leaving is “Scrubs,” but all nine seasons of the show have already been on Netflix for a few years.

It is hard to tell what really is a bad month or a good month for Netflix from a business perspective.  They release no data or ratings about any shows or movies. Apart from expiring contracts with large studios, the additions and subtractions don’t get explained to the public.

So it is entirely possible that months like this are great for business. Let people catch up on the shows released in the past few months, long for something new, and then have another big month later in the year.

However, Hulu and Amazon are taking advantage of this off-month for Netflix by upping their share in the streaming game.

Amazon Prime has acquired the rights to select seasons of “Boardwalk Empire,” “Lucky Louie,” “True Blood” and “Mr. Show With Bob and David.” They’re also adding movie titles such as “When Harry Met Sally,” nine early James Bond films, “Airplane” and “Airplane II: The Sequel,” as well as more for purchase through their on demand section of the site.

Hulu keeps going about it in its own way, making small-budget shows without promoting them and making episodes of TV shows available the day after their original air date. Interestingly, it has the rights to some of the same movies as Amazon, but its TV shows remain all different. In any case, Hulu needs to find a new way to use advertising because the repeating commercials make Hulu Plus the most annoying of all streaming sites.

Netflix’s boring May might mean nothing, but it could mean a lot of space for Amazon and Hulu to continue gaining ground.

Kyle Stevens is a sophomore advertising major. His column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email him at ksteve03@syr.edu or reach him on Twitter at @kstevs_.

Published on April 24, 2016 at 9:20 pm