Netflix makes the world stream
Company scores blockbuster growth in subscribers abroad
While all eyes are focused on the domestic battle royale in the streaming world in the U.S. current kingpin, Netflix, released numbers late Monday that showed how it rules over the rest of the world too.
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Netflix saw a 140 percent subscriber increase in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and revenue rose 196 percent during the first quarter of 2017 to the third quarter of 2019, according to the streamer’s SEC filing. In Asia, subscribers were up 211 percent and revenue 299 percent. All of these figures are since 2017.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. and Canada, the total number of paid streaming subscribers, which does not include 2.7 million subscribers who still receive DVDs from Netflix by mail, was at 67.1 million as of Sept. 30th. That is up from 58.4 million at the end of 2017.
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The timing of the filing is curious if only because yet another story was published by the New York Times on Monday about the company’s revenue opportunities in the face of slowing growth in the U.S. The story stressed the increased competition from Disney+, AppleTV+ and the soon-to-come HBOMax from AT&T’s WarnerMedia. The report also pointed out Netflix's $12 billion debt load.
Despite the slowdown in U.S. subscribers, those who already subscribe are watching more. Last year, the average American spent more than 23 minutes per day watching Netflix and this year the tally jumped to 27 minutes, which beat out its nearest competitor, YouTube, by a full four minutes, according to eMarketer.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC. | 897.48 | +13.63 | +1.54% |
The company's stock was up more than 2 percent after hours
