Global streaming service Netflix is seriously winning in 2020. From its record-setting shows, to its speedy recovery from COVID-19, here are 20 “Netflix in numbers” statistics that show you why it’s winning the so-called streaming war.
20 Netflix Statistics
1. Sharing is caring
A reported 41% of users on Netflix are borrowing someone else’s account to watch their favourite shows. According to a 2019 survey by independent researcher MoffettNathanson, 41 percent of users on Netflix were using someone else’s account. Of this number, 27 percent of respondents were using the account of someone in their household, while a further 14% admitted to using an account of someone from outside their home.
2. Netflix isn’t happy with region-hopping and VPNs
Region-locking exclusive shows has users around the world using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and Netflix isn’t happy about it. As of 2016, Netflix began a concerted effort to block VPNs to deter region-hopping. Netflix does this by constantly checking the user’s IP address against their Domain Name Server (DNS) settings.
3. One-in-five online video subscriptions is with Netflix
Netflix accounts for 19% of the 863 million online video subscriptions, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). A report from the MPAA in 2019 found that of the near 900 million online video subscriptions, Netflix’s 167 million subscriptions means it accounts for nearly one-in-five online video subscriptions. Wow!
4. Long live the king
Despite the launch of competitors like Disney+ and the massive growth of rivals like Amazon Prime, Netflix still commands the largest subscriber base in the world. With its 167 million-strong subscriber army, it still blitzes the second-largest streaming service, Amazon Prime, with an estimated 150 million subscriber base.
5. Netflix is still the biggest streaming service, despite financial hit during Covid-19
As of this April, Netflix was worth over $162 billion. By comparison, the entire Disney corporation was worth $175 billion during the same time period.
However, Netflix’s stock price dropped a whopping 22% in between March 4 and March 16 (coinciding with the 100-case milestone in the USA). This time in the red wasn’t to last however, as by the end of March, Netflix’s stock price had bounced back.
6. Netflix is a massive employer
As of January, Netflix employed roughly 8,600 people worldwide, up almost 800% from the company’s early days in 2005. Netflix recruited 1,800 employees between 2018 and 2019, marking the largest number of new employees brought in by the company over a 12 month period.
7. Netflix spends big on R&D
Netflix is splashing serious cash into researching its viewership, pumping over $1.5 billion into research and development in 2019 alone. By comparison, Netflix spent $852 million on R&D in 2016. This goes towards improving the recommendation algorithm, and analysing how subscribers use Netflix to improve their service.
8. Netflix is still running cash flow-negative
Despite posting a colossal USD $20 billion revenue last year, Netflix is spending a lot more than it’s making. Last year’s free cash flow was negative $3.3 billion – around a quarter of a billion dollars more than the previous year.
9. Big bags of debt
Netflix is lugging around a huge amount of debt. The company is reportedly $12.43 billion in debt as of 2019. This isn’t cause for concern, however, as economists ascertain Netflix is financing its original content straight out of the company coffers.
10. When it comes to original content, it’s expensive
Company chief financial officer David Wells said Netflix was willing to spend $20 million per hour of original content, with Netflix original The Crown reportedly costing $10m per episode. This is well above competitors like Amazon Prime, and really shows Netflix’s dedication to creating original shows and films.
11. Netflix is investing in comedy
Netflix is spending up large on the big names in comedy in an attempt to wrangle in new subscribers. Comedian Chris Rock was reportedly paid $40 million for his two original comedy specials while Dave Chappelle’s three-part stand-up special saw Netflix cough up a comparatively large $60 million.
12. Netflix doco Tiger King breaks into new territory in viewership
Netflix original Tiger King amassed a colossal 34 million viewers within the first 10 days of its release, breaking records for the most-watched title on Netflix for the longest period of time, leading the charts for 15 consecutive days.
13. Despite wide catalogue, The Office is still the boss
Netflix’s range of captivating original content is no match for Michael Scott and Co., as The Office US remains Netflix’s most-watched show of 2020, according to analysis firm Nielson.
14. Viewers like what they see
80% of Netflix users will watch what shows up in their ‘recommended’ section, showing the accuracy of Netflix’s highly-developed algorithm. Maybe all that research & development was worth it?
15. Netflix is big and only growing… smaller?
Worldwide, Netflix boasts more than 13,900 films, television shows and documentaries, with Ireland having access to the most content. Despite this extensive list of potential movies and shows, Netflix is making a conscious effort to shrink its library, citing a desire to create more compelling original content.
16. Once upon a time, Netflix spent big on Disney
Netflix paid $300m USD for exclusive rights to Disney’s range of content, before the creation of Disney+. Highly popular among Netflix subscribers, Disney’s large range of content included the Marvel Cinematic Universe and list of animated children’s films.
17. Netflix wins big on awards night
Receiving over 430 award nominations and more than 70 awards for its wide and diverse range of original content, Netflix is dedicated to producing top-notch original content. House of Cards rules the roost for Netflix’s shows, holding 29 of these awards.
18. Netflix users consume a lot of streaming data
Netflix users watched an average of two hours of video per day through the service, according to The Stack.
Two hours a day of Netflix seriously racks up, with the average data consumption per viewer amounting to around 45GB of data each month. Despite Netflix lowering the quality of some videos in an effort to reduce personal data consumption, the platform is still consuming over 300,400,000,000GB of data every year.
19. That kind of demand really adds up!
In a recent report by US-based network watchdog Sandvine, Netflix reportedly accounted for over 12% of all global downstream traffic in Q1 and Q2 of 2019. This varied by region, with Netflix in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) accounting for a massive 26% of internet traffic. Wow!
20. Netflix is still raking it in from DVD rentals
Despite being an industry leader in online streaming, Netflix is still making a pretty penny from their DVD rental service. As of 2019, the company earned over $297 million in 2019 from its DVD rental service. The service is slowly declining, however, with revenue from DVD rentals decreasing 34% since 2017.
