Netflix just released its Q1 earnings, and announced that it has achieved some new milestones. For one, it surpassed 40 million members in the U.S., as well as 20 million internationally, and 60 million total. Member engagement is at an all-time high, the company said, with members streaming 10 billion hours in Q1.
Here’s a look at the financials:
Netflix will be focusing more of its marketing budget on international growth in Q2, so expect international numbers to look even more impressive on the next report. Of course international expansion continues as well. The service just launched in Australia and New Zealand less than a month ago, and Netflix expects to have its worldwide roll-out complete by 2017.
A Japan launch is slated for later this year in addition to other markets.The company expects net adds to increase by 70% in Q2 compared to last year.
Here’s what CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells told shareholders about its content in a letter:
Our original content strategy is playing out as we hoped, driving lots of viewing in an economic way for Netflix while bolstering the positive perception of our brand and service around the world.
House of Cards, in its third season, had its biggest launch yet in terms of viewers. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Tina Fey’s return to television, has been a hit, winning Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90%+ from both critics and viewers and our drama thriller, Bloodline starring Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn and Sissy Spacek, is performing on par with the first seasons of our other big drama shows. During the quarter, we announced new seasons for all three shows, as well as three new Netflix original films, PeeWee’s Big Holiday from Judd Apatow and Paul Reubens, Jadotville, from Irish director Richie Smyth and starring Jamie Dornan, and Beasts of No Nation from director Cary Fukunaga and starring Idris Elba. Beasts will premiere on Netflix later this year.
We are delighted by the fan excitement and critical response around last Friday’s launch of Marvel’s Daredevil, the first of four series and a mini-series from our deal with Marvel Entertainment. The current quarter will also see the debut of Grace and Frankie starring legendary comedians Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Sense8, an unbelievably cinematic and entertaining global dramatic thriller from the Wachowski siblings, and the third season of our groundbreaking Orange is The New Black.
Netflix also shared an updated look at its slate of original content for the foreseeable future. Here’s what that looks like:
April 17 | Chris D’Elia: Incorrigible | Stand-Up Comedy Special | Global Original |
April 26 | Chef’s Table | Docu-Series | Global Original |
May 8 | Grace and Frankie | Series | Global Original |
May 21 | Between (All territories except Canada) | Series | Global Original |
May 22 | Jen Kirkman: I’m Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine) | Stand-Up Comedy Special | Global Original |
May 22 | The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir | Documentary | Global Original |
June 5 | Sense8 — Available in Ultra HD 4K | Series | Global Original |
June 12 | Orange is the New Black – Season 3 | Series | Global Original |
June 26 | What Happened, Miss Simone? | Documentary | Global Original |
Q3 2015 | |||
July 10 | Chris Tucker Live | Stand-Up Comedy Series | Global Original |
July 17 | Wet Hot American Summer | Series | Global Original |
August 28 | Crouching Tiger: The Green Destiny — Available in Ultra HD 4K | Film | Global Original |
Coming Up in 2015 & 2016 | |||
— | Beasts of No Nation | Film | Global Original |
2015 | BoJack Horseman – Season 2 | Series | Global Original |
2016 | Bottersnikes & Grumbles (All territories except UK and Australia) | Kids | Global Original |
2016 | Care Bears and Cousins (All territories except France and Germany) | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Chelsea Handler Docu-Comedy Specials | Comedy Doc Special | Global Original |
2016 | Chelsea Handler Talk Show | — | Global Original |
2015 | Club de Cuervos | Series | Global Original |
2016 | The Crown | Series | Global Original |
2016 | Danger Mouse (All territories except Germany, France, UK and Ireland) | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Dinotrux | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Dragons | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Ever After High | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | F is for Family | Series | Global Original |
2015 | Fargo – Season 2 (France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Benelux only) | Series | First Run Non-US |
2016 | Flaked | Series | Global Original |
2015 | From Dusk Till Dawn – Season 2 (All non-US territories) | Series | First Run Non-US |
2015 | Hemlock Grove – Season 3 | Series | Global Original |
2016 | Jadotville | Film | Global Original |
2016 | Justin Time: The New Adventures | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Knights of Sidonia – Season 2 | Anime Series | Global Original |
2016 | KONG – KING OF THE APES | Kids | Global Original |
— | Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events | Series | Global Original |
2015 | Longmire – Season 4 (US & Canada only) | Series | Global Original |
2016 | Love | Series | Global Original |
2016 | The Magic School Bus | Kids | Global Original |
— | Marco Polo – Season 2 — Available in Ultra HD 4K | Series | Global Original |
2015 | Marseille | Series | Global Original |
2015/2016 | Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones — Available in Ultra HD 4K | Series | Global Original |
2016 | Montauk | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Narcos — Available in Ultra HD 4K | Series | Global Original |
2016 | The OA | Series | Global Original |
— | Peaky Blinders – Season 3 (US only) | Series | Global Original |
2015 | Penny Dreadful – Season 2 (France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Benelux only) | Series | First Run Non-US |
2015 | Pompidou | Series | Global Original |
2015 | Popples (All territories except France) | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Some Assembly Required (All territories except Canada) | Kids | Global Original |
2016 | Special Correspondents | Series | Global Original |
2015 | Super 4 | Kids | Global Original |
2015 | Trailer Park Boys – Season 9 | Series | Global Original |
2015 | What Happened, Miss Simone? | Documentary | Global Original |
2015 | With Bob and David | Series | Global Original |
2016 | Winx Club WOW: World of Winx | Kids | Global Original |
Hastings and Wells also noted that they plan to roll out a new TV user interface in the second half of this year, which will see video playback “forward into the browse experience.”
They’re also working on ways to better promote Netflix originals to subscribers using data to identify those that would most likely be interested in specific titles.
Netflix is also working on adding more subtitles and UI languages for content.
The letter to shareholders mentioned HBO’s new HBO Now service, saying they think both services will continue to be successful, and that they’re not substitutes for one another. On another competitive note, the company says it views Internet MVPD offerings like the rumored Apple offering, Sony’s Playstation Vue and Dish’s Sling TV as more competitive to the current pay TV bundle than to Netflix. It adds that piracy remains a “considerable long-term threat, mostly outside the U.S.”
In case you’re wondering about the DVD service, it still has over 5.5 million members, which the company considers a “core user base” that continues to rely on it for new release movies and TV shows, as well as its broad selection of titles. On the last earnings report, it had 5.8 million DVD subscribers.
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