From 100m users to Adam Sandler love, here’s Netflix’s big numbers

Netflix has seen some solid growth since its massive expansion, and now, the company is on track to pass the 100 million user mark in the second quarter of 2017.

The streaming colossus saw its users jump from 81.5 million in Q1 2016 to 98.75 million in Q1 2017, its investor report showed. To be fair, the number includes both paid and non-paid users.

“We expect to cross the 100 million member mark this weekend. It’s a good start,” the service added.

It’s also worth noting that the company’s international user additions saw a notable year-on-year drop.

“International net additions decreased 22% year over year, as we lapped our January 2016 launch of over 130 countries, and the accompanying early surge demand, in Q1 2016,” the streaming service explained.

Netflix is set to cross the 100 million user mark in the coming days

Still, the company seems to be happy with several regions, while also hoping to produce more relevant content.

“We have high satisfaction and are rapidly growing in Latin America, Europe, and North America. We are making good strides in improving our content offering to match local tastes in Asia, Middle East, and Africa, but have much progress to make, like in Latin America a few years ago.”

In the money department, the company’s Q1 2017 results saw it earn US$2.637-billion in revenue — up from US$1.958-billion a year ago. This also equated to year-on-year growth of 34.7%. Interestingly enough, the company added that it was set to spend US$1-billion on marketing efforts in 2017 to drive user growth.

Other takeaways from the Netflix report

Aside from the obvious financial and growth-related news, the streaming service also had plenty to say about… everything.

From Adam Sandler and the likes of YouTube TV to sports, the company’s Q1 2017 report had a load to share.

When can we expect Netflix to offer sports?

Another interesting note from the investor report was that the company didn’t seem to like the idea of investing in sports.

“…investors ask us about Amazon’s move into NFL football. That is not a strategy that we think is smart for us since we believe we can earn more viewing and satisfaction from spending that money on movies and TV shows.”

Yes, Adam Sandler is a hit

In a move that was slammed by many critics, Netflix recently renewed its content deal with Adam Sandler. The company confirmed that its users really like the actor.

“We continue to be excited by our Sandler relationship and our members continue to be thrilled with his films. Since the launch of The Ridiculous 6, Netflix members have spent more than half a billion hours enjoying the films of Adam Sandler.”

Netflix wants its content in cinemas

The streaming service isn’t about to go the cinema-first route, from the looks of things. But it still wants a piece of that pie.

“Since our members are funding these films, they should be the first to see them. But we are also open to supporting the large theatre chains, such as AMC and Regal in the US, if they want to offer our films, such as our upcoming Will Smith film Bright, in theatres simultaneous to Netflix. Let consumers choose,” the company wrote.

The new rating system gets more use

Social media reaction to the new thumbs up/down rating system was rather mixed. However, the company noted that it’s definitely being used more often.

“The amount of usage we get with this new approach is over twice as many ratings. With this additional personal input, we’ll be able to improve personalisation, making your front screen on Netflix even more relevant,” the service explained.

Expect videos to replace static images

Another product-related bit of news was that Netflix was working on a long-term effort to replace static images with video.

“A multi-year effort ahead is to have video replace still images in our user experience in ways that please our members and help them choose what to watch. Video for choosing video is an obvious direction, but doing it well through our interface takes judgment, creativity, and testing.”

Netflix and the likes of YouTube TV

The streaming service doesn’t think much of PlayStation Vue and the newly announced YouTube TV, saying that these services were targeting pay-TV users. It added that Netflix was “complementary” to pay-TV services.

“Our focus also is on on-demand, commercial free viewing rather than live, ad-supported programming.”