As part of our blog series, we will occasionally spotlight an exciting, fast-growing, or game-changing company. These businesses are working to disrupt their industries—in the best way possible.
If you’ve ever streamed a movie or television show online, you likely did it through Netflix. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, this company was founded in 1997. Netflix offers a subscription-based streaming service, offering consumers a large library of films and television shows. Though Netflix has been around for over twenty years, its current form is relatively new.
Netflix began as a DVD subscription service. The idea was to bring the flexibility of a video rental store to the convenience of home; users would request films, which were then mailed to their homes. This rental by mail model was popular among American households, but Netflix truly changed the home entertainment world when it began to provide streaming services. In 2007, the company expanded its business with the introduction of streaming media, though it continued its DBD and Blu-ray rental service. The first of its kind, this streaming service became extremely popular; by January of 2006, Netflix operated in over 190 countries. The service is available worldwide except in Mainland China, Syria, North Korea, and Crimea.
Netflix continued to expand as a media company by entering the content-production industry. In 2012, the company debuted its first original series. Since then, it has continued to expand the production of both film and television series. Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films in 2016—more than any other network or cable channel. In 2018, the company received more Emmy Award nominations than any other network, including HBO.
As of April 2018, Netflix had 125 million total subscribers worldwide. Around 57 million of those subscribers live in the United States, meaning around 20% of all Americans have a subscription. The company continues to break ground in the home entertainment and production industries, and we’re looking forward to see what they do next.