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Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple languages. Launched in 2007, nearly a decade after Netflix, Inc. began its pioneering DVD-by-mail movie rental service, Netflix is the most-subscribed video on demand
streaming media Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...
service, with 301.6 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries as of 2025. By 2022, "Netflix Original" productions accounted for half of its library in the United States and the namesake company had ventured into other categories, such as video game publishing of
mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...
s through its flagship service. As of 2025, Netflix is the 18th most-visited website in the world, with 21.18% of its traffic coming from the
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, followed by the
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at 6.01%,
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at 4.94%, and
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at 4.24%.


History


Launch as a mail-based rental business (1997–2006)

Netflix was founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, was a co-founder of
Pure Software Pure Software was founded in October 1991 by Reed Hastings, Raymond Peck and Mark Box. The original product was a debugging tool for UNIX software applications written in C called Purify (software), Purify. After adding new products such as Qua ...
, which was acquired by Rational Software that year for $750 million, the then biggest acquisition in
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history. Randolph had worked as a marketing director for
Pure Software Pure Software was founded in October 1991 by Reed Hastings, Raymond Peck and Mark Box. The original product was a debugging tool for UNIX software applications written in C called Purify (software), Purify. After adding new products such as Qua ...
after Pure Atria acquired a company where Randolph worked. He was previously a co-founder of MicroWarehouse, a computer mail-order company, as well as vice president of marketing for Borland. Hastings and Randolph came up with the idea for Netflix while carpooling between their homes in
Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...
, and Pure Atria's headquarters in Sunnyvale. Patty McCord, later head of
human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...
at Netflix, was also in the carpool group. Randolph admired
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and wanted to find a large category of portable items to sell over the
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using a similar model. Hastings and Randolph considered and rejected selling and renting VHS as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship. When they heard about DVDs, first introduced in the United States in early 1997, they tested the concept of online DVD rental or sales by mail, by mailing a
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to Hastings's house in Santa Cruz. When the CD arrived intact, they decided to enter the $16 billion Home-video sales and rental industry. (Hastings is often quoted saying that he decided to start Netflix after being fined $40 at a Blockbuster store for returning late a copy of ''Apollo 13'', but Randolph later said that Hastings invented the anecdote. Blockbuster reportedly ordered Hastings in the mid-2000s to stop telling the story, after it could not find such a transaction in its records.) Hastings invested $2.5 million into Netflix from the sale of Pure Atria. Netflix launched as the first DVD rental and sales website with 30 employees and 925 titles available—nearly all DVDs published. Randolph and Hastings met with Jeff Bezos, whose
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
offered to acquire Netflix for between $14 and $16 million. Fearing competition from Amazon, Randolph thought the offer was fair, but Hastings, who owned 70% of the company, turned it down on the plane ride home. Not restricted to the size of a retail store, Netflix could offer hundreds of thousands of DVDs to customers in a long tail business model. Early employee Cindy Holland compared the company acquiring DVDs to "shoveling coal in the side door of the house". Initially, Netflix offered a per-rental model for each DVD but introduced a monthly subscription concept in September 1999. The per-rental model was dropped by early 2000, allowing the company to focus on the business model of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping and handling fees, or per-title rental fees. While customers enjoyed the convenience, more important to Netflix was that it did not have to store or ship those DVDs; subscribers' homes acted as warehouses. The company secretly slowed deliveries to heavy users ("pigs"), to discourage them from quickly returning DVDs. In September 2000, during the dot-com bubble, while Netflix was suffering losses, Hastings and Randolph offered to sell the company to Blockbuster for $50 million. John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, thought the offer was a joke and declined, saying, "The dot-com hysteria is completely overblown." While Netflix experienced fast growth in early 2001, the continued effects of the dot-com bubble collapse and the September 11 attacks caused the company to hold off plans for its
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
(IPO) and to lay off one-third of its 120 employees. DVD players were a popular gift for holiday sales in late 2001, and demand for DVD subscription services were "growing like crazy", according to chief talent officer McCord. The company went
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
on May 23, 2002, opening on NASDAQ at US$15.00 per share with a sale of 5.5 million shares of common stock. In 2003, Netflix was issued a patent by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...
to cover its subscription rental service and several extensions. The company posted its first profit in 2003, earning $6.5 million on revenues of $272 million; by 2004, profit had increased to $49 million on over $500 million in revenues. In 2005, 35,000 different films were available, and Netflix shipped 1 million DVDs out every day. In 2004, Blockbuster introduced a DVD rental service, which not only allowed users to check out titles through online sites but allowed for them to return them at brick and-mortar stores. By 2006, Blockbuster's service reached two million users, and while trailing Netflix's subscriber count, was drawing business away from Netflix. Netflix lowered fees in 2007. While it was an
urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...
that Netflix ultimately "killed" Blockbuster in the DVD rental market, Blockbuster's debt load and internal disagreements hurt the company. On April 4, 2006, Netflix filed a patent infringement lawsuit in which it demanded a
jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...
in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Blockbuster's online DVD rental subscription program violated two patents held by Netflix. The first cause of action alleged Blockbuster's infringement of copying the "dynamic queue" of DVDs available for each customer, Netflix's method of using the ranked preferences in the queue to send DVDs to subscribers, and Netflix's method permitting the queue to be updated and reordered. The second cause of action alleged infringement of the subscription rental service as well as Netflix's methods of communication and delivery. The companies settled their dispute on June 25, 2007; terms were not disclosed. On October 1, 2006, Netflix announced the Netflix Prize, $1,000,000 to the first developer of a video-recommendation
algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
that could beat its existing algorithm Cinematch, at predicting customer ratings by more than 10%. On September 21, 2009, it awarded the $1,000,000 prize to team "BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos". Cinematch, launched in 2000, was a system that recommended movies to its users, many of which might have been entirely new to the user. Through its division Red Envelope Entertainment, Netflix licensed and distributed independent films such as '' Born into Brothels'' and '' Sherrybaby''. In late 2006, Red Envelope Entertainment also expanded into producing original content with filmmakers such as John Waters. Netflix closed Red Envelope Entertainment in 2008.


Transition to streaming services (2007–2012)

Hastings reportedly told Mynette Louie in the late 1990s that his goal was always
streaming media Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...
, and that Netflix rented DVDs only to grow its customer base for streaming. By the mid-2000s data speeds and bandwidth costs improved sufficiently to allow customers to download movies from the internet. The original idea was a "Netflix box" that could download movies overnight, and be ready to watch the next day. By 2005, Netflix had acquired movie rights and designed the box and service. But after witnessing how popular streaming services such as
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
were despite the lack of high-definition content, the concept of using a hardware device was scrapped and replaced with a streaming concept. In January 2007, the company launched a streaming media service, introducing
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
via the Internet. However, at that time it only had 1,000 films available for streaming, compared to 70,000 available on DVD. The service, then called "Watch Now", at first required
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...
on a computer. Hollywood studios licensed second-run content to the service, and did not expect it to threaten their existing lucrative relationships with
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
. In February 2007, Netflix delivered its billionth DVD, a copy of '' Babel'' to a customer in Texas. In April 2007, Netflix recruited ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood, to build a "Netflix Player" that would allow streaming content to be played directly on a television rather than a desktop or laptop. Hastings eventually shut down the project to help encourage other hardware manufacturers to include built-in Netflix support, which would be spun off as the digital media player product Roku. In January 2008, all rental-disc subscribers became entitled to unlimited streaming at no additional cost. This change came in a response to the introduction of
Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
and to
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's new video-rental services. In August 2008, the Netflix database was corrupted and the company was not able to ship DVDs to customers for 3 days, leading the company to move all its data to the
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cloud. In November 2008, Netflix began offering subscribers rentals on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
and discontinued its sale of used DVDs. In 2009, Netflix streams overtook DVD shipments. On January 6, 2010, Netflix agreed with Warner Bros. to delay new release rentals to 28 days after the DVDs became available for sale, in an attempt to help studios sell physical copies, and similar deals involving
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
and
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
were reached on April 9. In July 2010, Netflix signed a deal to stream movies of Relativity Media. In August 2010, Netflix reached a five-year deal worth nearly $1 billion to stream films from Paramount, Lionsgate and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
. The deal increased Netflix's annual spending fees, adding roughly $200 million per year. It spent $117 million in the first six months of 2010 on streaming, up from $31 million in 2009. On September 22, 2010, Netflix launched in Canada, its first international market. In November 2010, Netflix began offering a standalone streaming service separate from DVD rentals. In 2010, Netflix acquired the rights to ''
Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
'', produced by Sony Pictures Television, after the show's third season, at a point where original broadcaster AMC had expressed the possibility of cancelling the show. Sony pushed Netflix to release ''Breaking Bad'' in time for the fourth season, which as a result, greatly expanded the show's audience on AMC due to new viewers bingeing on the Netflix past episodes, and doubling the viewership by the time of the fifth season. ''Breaking Bad'' is considered the first such show to have this "Netflix effect". In January 2011, Netflix announced agreements with several manufacturers to include branded Netflix buttons on the
remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...
s of devices compatible with the service, such as Blu-ray players. By May 2011, Netflix had become the largest source of Internet streaming traffic in North America, accounting for 30% of traffic during peak hours. On July 12, 2011, Netflix announced that it would separate its existing subscription plans into two separate plans: one covering the streaming and the other DVD rental services. The cost for streaming would be $7.99 per month, while DVD rental would start at the same price. On September 11, 2011, Netflix expanded to countries in Latin America. On September 18, 2011, Netflix announced its intentions to rebrand and restructure its DVD home media rental service as an independent subsidiary called Qwikster, separating DVD rental and streaming services. On September 26, 2011, Netflix announced a content deal with DreamWorks Animation. On October 10, 2011, Netflix announced that it would retain its DVD service under the name Netflix and that its streaming and DVD-rental plans would remain branded together, citing customer dissatisfaction with the split. In October 2011. Netflix and
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signed a multi-year output deal for its television shows. On January 9, 2012, Netflix started its expansion to Europe, launching in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In February 2012, Netflix reached a multi-year agreement with The Weinstein Company. In March 2012, Netflix acquired the domain name DVD.com. By 2016, Netflix rebranded its DVD-by-mail service under the name ''DVD.com, A Netflix Company''. In April 2012, Netflix filed with the
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(FEC) to form a
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
(PAC) called FLIXPAC. Netflix spokesperson Joris Evers tweeted that the intent was to "engage on issues like
net neutrality Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...
, bandwidth caps, UBB and VPPA". In June 2012, Netflix signed a deal with Open Road Films. On August 23, 2012, Netflix and The Weinstein Company signed a multi-year output deal for RADiUS-TWC films. In September 2012, Epix signed a five-year streaming deal with Netflix. For the initial two years of this agreement, first-run and back-catalog content from Epix was exclusive to Netflix. Epix films came to Netflix 90 days after premiering on Epix. These included films from Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate. On October 18, 2012, Netflix launched in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. On December 4, 2012, Netflix and Disney announced an exclusive multi-year agreement for first-run United States subscription television rights to Walt Disney Studios' animated and live-action films, with classics such as '' Dumbo'', '' Alice in Wonderland'' and '' Pocahontas'' available immediately and others available on Netflix beginning in 2016.
Direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
releases were made available in 2013. On January 14, 2013, Netflix signed an agreement with
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
's Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Bros. Television to distribute
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, Warner Bros. Animation, and
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content, as well as TNT's ''
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'', beginning in March 2013. The rights to these programs were given to Netflix shortly after deals with Viacom to stream Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. Channel programs expired. For cost reasons, Netflix stated that it would limit its expansion in 2013, adding only one new market—the Netherlands—in September of that year. This expanded its availability to 40 territories.


Development of original programming and distribution expansion (2013–2017)

Netflix had long closely analyzed its customers' preferences. Watch Now gave the company real-time data on their behavior, such as scenes that customers replayed or skipped, or when they stopped watching a show. In 2011, Netflix began its efforts into original content development. In March, it made a straight-to-series order from MRC for the political drama ''House of Cards'', led by
Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...
, outbidding U.S. cable networks. This marked the first instance of a first-run television series being specifically commissioned by the service. Netflix executives said that its customers' love of films by Spacey and show director David Fincher caused the company to acquire the show. Customers' tendency to binge watch many episodes without stopping caused it to release all 13 episodes of the show's first season at the same time. In November the same year, Netflix added two more significant productions to its roster: the comedy-drama '' Orange Is the New Black'', adapted from Piper Kerman's
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
, and a new season of the previously cancelled Fox sitcom '' Arrested Development''. Netflix acquired the U.S. rights to the Norwegian drama '' Lilyhammer'' after its television premiere on Norway's NRK1 on January 25, 2012. Notably departing from the traditional broadcast television model of weekly episode premieres, Netflix chose to release the entire first season on February 8 of the same year. ''House of Cards'' was released by Netflix on February 1, 2013, marketed as the first "Netflix Original" production. Later that month, Netflix announced an agreement with DreamWorks Animation to commission children's television series based on its properties, beginning with '' Turbo: F.A.S.T.'', a spin-off of its film ''
Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...
.'' ''Orange is the New Black'' would premiere in July 2013; Netflix stated that ''Orange is the New Black'' had been its most-watched original series so far, with all of them having "an audience comparable with successful shows on cable and broadcast TV." On March 13, 2013, Netflix added a
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sharing feature, letting United States subscribers access "Watched by your friends" and "Friends' Favorites" by agreeing. This was not legal until the Video Privacy Protection Act was modified in early 2013. On August 1, 2013, Netflix reintroduced the "Profiles" feature that permits accounts to accommodate up to five user profiles. In November 2013, Marvel Television and
ABC Studios ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's ...
announced Netflix had ordered a slate of four television series based on the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage. Each of the four series received an initial order of 13 episodes, and Netflix also ordered a Defenders miniseries that would tie them together. ''Daredevil'' and ''Jessica Jones'' premiered in 2015. The '' Luke Cage'' series premiered on September 30, 2016, followed by '' Iron Fist'' on March 17, 2017, and '' The Defenders'' on August 18, 2017. Marvel owner
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
later entered into other content agreements with Netflix, including acquiring its animated ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' series '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', and a new sixth season. In February 2014, Netflix began to enter into agreements with U.S. internet service providers, beginning with
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
(whose customers had repeatedly complained of frequent buffering when streaming Netflix), in order to provide the service a direct connection to their networks. In April 2014, Netflix signed '' Arrested Development'' creator Mitchell Hurwitz and his production firm The Hurwitz Company to a multi-year deal to create original projects for the service. In May 2014, Netflix &
Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...
had a major multi-deal to acquire streaming rights to produce films. It also began to introduce an updated logo, with a flatter appearance and updated typography. In September 2014, Netflix expanded into six new European markets, including
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
, and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. On September 10, 2014, Netflix participated in Internet Slowdown Day by deliberately slowing down its speed in support of
net neutrality Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...
regulations in the United States. In October 2014, Netflix announced a four-film deal with
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...
and his Happy Madison Productions. In April 2015, following the launch of '' Daredevil'', Netflix director of content operations Tracy Wright announced that Netflix had added support for audio description, and had begun to work with its partners to add descriptions to its other original series over time. The following year, as part of a settlement with the American Council of the Blind, Netflix agreed to provide descriptions for its original series within 30 days of their premiere, and add
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support and the ability to browse content by availability of descriptions. In March 2015, Netflix expanded to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. In September 2015, Netflix launched in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, its first country in Asia. In October 2015, Netflix launched in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. In January 2016, at the
Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
, Netflix announced a major international expansion of its service into 130 additional countries. It then had become available worldwide except
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
,
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
,
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
and
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
. In May 2016, Netflix created a tool called Fast.com to determine the speed of an Internet connection. It received praise for being "simple" and "easy to use", and does not include
online advertising Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising that uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...
, unlike competitors. On November 30, 2016, Netflix launched an offline playback feature, allowing users of the Netflix mobile apps on Android or iOS to cache content on their devices in standard or high quality for viewing offline, without an Internet connection. In 2016, Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films, more than any network or cable channel. In April 2016, Hastings stated that the company planned to expand its in-house, Los Angeles-based Netflix Studios to grow its output; Hastings ruled out any potential acquisitions of existing studios. In February 2017, Netflix signed a music publishing deal with BMG Rights Management, whereby BMG will oversee rights outside of the United States for music associated with Netflix original content. Netflix continues to handle these tasks in-house in the United States. On April 25, 2017, Netflix signed a licensing deal with IQIYI, a Chinese video streaming platform owned by Baidu, to allow selected Netflix original content to be distributed in China on the platform. On August 7, 2017, Netflix acquired Millarworld, the creator-owned publishing company of comic book writer Mark Millar. The purchase marked the first corporate acquisition to have been made by Netflix. On August 14, 2017, Netflix entered into an exclusive development deal with Shonda Rhimes and her production company Shondaland. In September 2017, Netflix announced it would offer its low-broadband mobile technology to airlines to provide better in-flight Wi-Fi so that passengers can watch movies on Netflix while on planes. In September 2017, Minister of Heritage
Mélanie Joly Mélanie Joly (; born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has been serving as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Minister of Industry, Registrar General of Canada, and Minister responsible for the Economic D ...
announced that Netflix had agreed to make a (US$400 million) investment over the next five years in producing content in Canada. The company denied that the deal was intended to result in a tax break. Netflix realized this goal by December 2018. In October 2017, Netflix iterated a goal of having half of its library consist of original content by 2019, announcing a plan to invest $8 billion on original content in 2018. In October 2017, Netflix introduced the "Skip Intro" feature which allows customers to skip the intros to shows on its platform through a variety of techniques including manual reviewing, audio tagging, and
machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...
. In November 2017, Netflix signed an exclusive multi-year deal with ''Orange Is the New Black'' creator Jenji Kohan. In November 2017, Netflix withdrew from co-hosting a party at the 75th Golden Globe Awards with The Weinstein Company due to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases.


Netflix in Africa

In January 2016, Netflix officially launched it’s services in Africa, with a focus on
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, and
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. The entry into Africa was part of a wider global expansion that saw the platform go live in over 130 countries. Prior to Netflix’s official entry in Africa, African users could only access Netflix’s international catalog, and the platform offered little in terms of African content or local language support. Between 2018 - 2020 Netflix had started making significant investments in African storytelling, including content acquisitions and original productions. Netflix also hired key personnel to oversee its African strategy, that included Dorothy Ghettuba, a Kenyan media entrepreneur, who joined as head of African Originals in 2019. That same year, Netflix acquired Lionheart by Nigerian filmmaker Genevieve Nnaji, marking the platform’s first Nigerian original film. By 2020, Netflix had begun rolling out original African content, including: * ''Queen Sono'' (South Africa) – First African original series. * ''Blood & Water'' (South Africa). * ''Country Queen'' (2022)  (Kenya) – First Kenyan original series to stream on Netflix. South Africa has the most African films on netflix as of May 2025. Netflix investment in Africa has reportedly not only spurred the growth of the film industry in the three countries but has an economic impact as well through job creation. According to the online video-streaming company, it has invested the equivalent of €160 million in film content production in Africa since it began working on the continent in 2016 with over 12,000 jobs created across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.


Netflix in Kenya

Netflix has become a key platform for Kenyan filmmakers to reach global audiences.The inclusion of Kenyan content on Netflix has spurred growth in the region's film industry. The journey of Kenyan films to Netflix began with the short film '' Poacher'' in 2020, which became  the first Kenyan title on the platform, followed by ''Sincerely Daisy'''', 40 Sticks and Discon'' ''nect''''.'' '' Country Queen'' (2022), became Kenya’s first Netflix Original series.. In 2022, Netflix signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the  Ministry of ICT that would see the platform inject Ksh 33 million to enhance skill capacity in Kenya’s TV and film industry, as part of its investment in local content.


Expansion into international productions and new productions (2017–2020)

In November 2017, Netflix announced that it would be making its first original Colombian series, to be executive produced by Ciro Guerra. In December 2017, Netflix signed ''Stranger Things'' director-producer Shawn Levy and his production company 21 Laps Entertainment to what sources say is a four-year deal. In 2017, Netflix invested in distributing exclusive stand-up comedy specials from Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr and Jerry Seinfeld. In February 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to ''
The Cloverfield Paradox ''The Cloverfield Paradox'' is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber. It is the third film in the ...
'' from
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
for $50 million and launched on its service on February 4, 2018, shortly after airing its first trailer during Super Bowl LII. Analysts believed that Netflix's purchase of the film helped to make the film instantly profitable for Paramount compared to a more traditional theatrical release, while Netflix benefited from the surprise reveal. Other films acquired by Netflix include international distribution for Paramount's '' Annihilation'' and Universal's '' News of the World'' and worldwide distribution of Universal's ''
Extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
'', Warner Bros.' '' Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle'', Paramount's '' The Lovebirds'' and 20th Century Studios' '' The Woman in the Window''. In March, the service ordered ''Formula 1: Drive to Survive'', a racing docuseries following teams in the
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
world championship. In March 2018, Sky UK announced an agreement with Netflix to integrate Netflix's subscription VOD offering into its pay-TV service. Customers with its high-end Sky Q set-top box and service will be able to see Netflix titles alongside their regular Sky channels. In October 2022, Netflix revealed that its annual revenue from the UK subscribers in 2021 was £1.4bn. In April 2018, Netflix pulled out of the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, in response to new rules requiring competition films to have been released in French theaters. The Cannes premiere of '' Okja'' in 2017 was controversial, and led to discussions over the appropriateness of films with simultaneous digital releases being screened at an event showcasing theatrical film; audience members also booed the Netflix production logo at the screening. Netflix's attempts to negotiate to allow a limited release in France were curtailed by organizers, as well as French cultural exception law—where theatrically screened films are legally forbidden from being made available via video-on-demand services until at least 36 months after their release. Besides traditional Hollywood markets as well as from partners like the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, Sarandos said the company also looking to expand investments in non-traditional foreign markets due to the growth of viewers outside of North America. At the time, this included programs such as '' Dark'' from Germany, '' Ingobernable'' from
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and '' 3%'' from
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. On May 22, 2018, former president,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, and his wife,
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
, signed a deal to produce docu-series, documentaries and features for Netflix under the Obamas' newly formed production company, Higher Ground Productions. In June 2018, Netflix announced a partnership with Telltale Games to port its adventure games to the service in a streaming video format, allowing simple controls through a television remote. The first game, '' Minecraft: Story Mode'', was released in November 2018. In July 2018, Netflix earned the most Emmy nominations of any network for the first time with 112 nods. On August 27, 2018, the company signed a five-year exclusive overall deal with international best–selling author Harlan Coben. On the same day, the company signed an overall deal with '' Gravity Falls'' creator Alex Hirsch. In October 2018, Netflix paid under $30 million to acquire Albuquerque Studios (ABQ Studios), a $91 million film and TV production facility with eight sound stages in Albuquerque,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, for its first U.S. production hub, pledging to spend over $1 billion over the next decade to create one of the largest film studios in North America. In November 2018,
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
signed a multi-picture film deal with Netflix, making Paramount the first major film studio to sign a deal with Netflix. A sequel to AwesomenessTV's '' To All the Boys I've Loved Before'' was released on Netflix under the title '' To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You'' as part of the agreement. In December 2018, the company announced a partnership with ESPN Films on a
television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
chronicling Michael Jordan and the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls season titled '' The Last Dance''. It was released internationally on Netflix and became available for streaming in the United States three months after a broadcast airing on
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. In January 2019, ''
Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...
'' made its debut as a Netflix original series, receiving much critical acclaim. On January 22, 2019, Netflix sought and was approved for membership into the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...
(MPAA), making it the first streaming service to join the association. In February 2019, '' The Haunting'' creator Mike Flanagan joined frequent collaborator Trevor Macy as a partner in Intrepid Pictures and the duo signed an exclusive overall deal with Netflix to produce television content. On May 9, 2019, Netflix contracted with Dark Horse Entertainment to make television series and films based on comics from
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
. In July 2019, Netflix announced that it would be opening a hub at Shepperton Studios as part of a deal with Pinewood Group. In early-August 2019, Netflix negotiated an exclusive multi-year film and television deal with ''
Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
'' creators and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The first Netflix production created by Benioff and Weiss was planned as an adaptation of Liu Cixin's science fiction novel '' The Three-Body Problem'', part of the '' Remembrance of Earth's Past'' trilogy. On September 30, 2019, in addition to renewing ''Stranger Things'' for a fourth season, Netflix signed The Duffer Brothers to an overall deal covering future film and television projects for the service. On November 13, 2019, Netflix and Nickelodeon entered into a multi-year agreement to produce several original animated feature films and television series based on Nickelodeon's library of characters. This agreement expanded on their existing relationship, in which new specials based on the past Nickelodeon series '' Invader Zim'' and '' Rocko's Modern Life'' ('' Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus'' and '' Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling'' respectively) were released by Netflix. Other new projects planned under the team-up include a music project featuring Squidward Tentacles from the animated television series ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'', and films based on '' The Loud House'' and ''
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American animated television series developed by Ant Ward and Andy Suriano for Nickelodeon. Based on the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it is a re-im ...
''. The agreement with Disney ended in 2019 due to the launch of
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
, with its Marvel productions moving exclusively to the service in 2022. In November 2019, Netflix announced that it had signed a long-term lease to save the Paris Theatre, the last single-screen movie theater in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. The company oversaw several renovations at the theater, including new seats and a concession stand. In January 2020, Netflix announced a new four-film deal with Adam Sandler worth up to $275 million. On February 25, 2020, Netflix formed partnerships with six Japanese creators to produce an original Japanese anime project. This partnership includes manga creator group CLAMP, mangaka Shin Kibayashi, mangaka Yasuo Ohtagaki, novelist and film director Otsuichi, novelist Tow Ubukata, and manga creator Mari Yamazaki. On March 4, 2020, ViacomCBS announced that it will be producing two spin-off films based on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' for Netflix. On April 7, 2020, Peter Chernin's Chernin Entertainment made a multi-year first-look deal with Netflix to make films. On May 29, 2020, Netflix announced the acquisition of
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known as Egyptian Hollywood and the Egyptian, is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace ...
from the American Cinematheque to use as a special events venue. In July 2020, Netflix appointed Sarandos as co-CEO. In July 2020, Netflix invested in '' Black Mirror'' creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones' new production outfit Broke And Bones. In September 2020, Netflix signed a multi-million dollar deal with the
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
and Duchess of Sussex. Harry and Meghan agreed to a multi-year deal promising to create TV shows, films, and children's content as part of their commitment to stepping away from the duties of the royal family. In September 2020, Hastings released a book about Netflix culture titled ''No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention'', which was coauthored by Erin Meyer. In December 2020, Netflix signed a first-look deal with Millie Bobby Brown to develop and star in several projects including a potential action franchise.


Expansion into gaming, ''Squid Game'', new programing and new initiatives (2021–2022)

In March 2021, Netflix earned the most Academy Award nominations of any studio, with 36. Netflix won seven Academy Awards, which was the most by any studio. Later that year, Netflix also won more Emmys than any other network or studio with 44 wins, tying the record for most Emmys won in a single year set by CBS in 1974. On April 8, 2021, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced an agreement for Netflix to hold the U.S. pay television window rights to its releases beginning in 2022, replacing Starz and expanding upon an existing agreement with
Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...
. The agreement also includes a first-look deal for any future direct-to-streaming films being produced by Sony Pictures, with Netflix required to commit to a minimum number of them. On April 27, Netflix announced that it was opening its first
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
headquarters in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. The company also announced that it would open an office in Sweden as well as
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
to increase its original content in those regions. In early-June, Netflix hosted a first-ever week-long virtual event called "Geeked Week", where it shared exclusive news, new trailers, cast appearances and more about upcoming genre titles like ''The Witcher'', '' The Cuphead Show!'', and '' The Sandman''. On June 7, 2021,
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
's Nuyorican Productions signed a multi-year first-look deal with Netflix spanning feature films, TV series, and unscripted content, with an emphasis on projects that support diverse female actors, writers, and filmmakers. On June 10, 2021, Netflix announced it was launching an online store for curated products tied to the Netflix brand and shows such as ''Stranger Things'' and '' The Witcher''. On June 21, 2021, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners signed a deal with Netflix to release multiple new feature films for the streaming service. On June 30, 2021, Powerhouse Animation Studios (the studio behind Netflix's '' Castlevania'') announced signing a first-look deal with the streamer to produce more animated series. In July 2021, Netflix hired Mike Verdu, a former executive from
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
and
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, as vice president of game development, along with plans to add video games by 2022. Netflix announced plans to release mobile games that would be included in subscribers' service plans. Trial offerings were first launched for Netflix users in Poland in August 2021, offering premium mobile games based on ''Stranger Things'' including '' Stranger Things 3: The Game'', for free to subscribers through the Netflix mobile app. On July 14, 2021, Netflix signed a first-look deal with Joey King, star of '' The Kissing Booth'' franchise, in which King will produce and develop films for Netflix via her All The King's Horses production company. On July 21, 2021, Zack Snyder, director of Netflix's '' Army of the Dead'', announced he had signed his production company The Stone Quarry to a first-look deal with Netflix; his upcoming projects include a sequel to ''Army of the Dead'' and a sci-fi adventure film titled ''Rebel Moon''. In 2019, he agreed to produce an anime-style web series inspired by
Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
. As of August 2021, Netflix Originals made up 40% of Netflix's overall library in the United States. The company announced that " TUDUM: A Netflix Global Fan Event", a three-hour virtual behind the scenes featuring first-look reveals for 100 of the streamer's series, films and specials, would have its inaugural show in late September 2021. According to Netflix, the show garnered 25.7 million views across Netflix's 29 Netflix YouTube channels, Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, TikTok and Tudum.com. Also in September, the company announced The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, launching in 2022 in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, and Washington, D.C. '' Squid Game'', a South Korean survival drama created and produced by Hwang Dong-hyuk, rapidly became the service's most-watched show within a week of its launch in many markets on September 17, 2021, including Korea, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Within its first 28 days on the service, ''Squid Game'' drew more than 111 million viewers, surpassing ''
Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...
'' and becoming Netflix's most-watched show. On September 20, 2021, Netflix signed a long-term lease with Aviva Investors to operate and expand the Longcross Studios in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, UK. On September 21, 2021, Netflix announced that it would acquire the Roald Dahl Story Company, which manages the rights to
Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...
's stories and characters, for an undisclosed price and would operate it as an independent company. The company acquired Night School Studio, an independent video game developer, on September 28, 2021. On October 13, 2021, Netflix announced the launch of the Netflix Book Club, partnering with
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
for a social series called ''But Have You Read the Book?''. Uzo Aduba became inaugural host of the series and announced monthly book selections set to be adapted by the streamer. Aduba speaks with the cast, creators, and authors about the book adaptation process over a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Through October 2021, Netflix commonly reported viewership for its programming based on the number of viewers or households that watched a show in a given period (such as the first 28 days from its premiere) for at least two minutes. On the announcement of its quarterly earnings in October 2021, the company stated that it would switch its viewership metrics to measuring the number of hours that a show was watched, including rewatches, which the company said was closer to the measurements used in linear broadcast television, and thus "our members and the industry can better measure success in the streaming world." Netflix officially launched mobile games on November 2, 2021, for Android users around the world. Through the app, subscribers had free access to five games, including two previously made '' Stranger Things'' titles. Netflix intends to add more games to this service over time. On November 9, the collection launched for iOS. Some games in the collection require an active internet connection to play, while others will be available offline. Netflix Kids' accounts will not have games available. On November 16, Netflix announced the launch of "Top10 on Netflix.com", a new website with weekly global and country lists of the most popular titles on their service based on their new viewership metrics. On November 22, Netflix announced that it would acquire Scanline VFX, the visual effects and animation company behind '' Cowboy Bebop'' and ''Stranger Things''. On the same day, Roberto Patino signed a deal with Netflix and established his production banner, Analog Inc., in partnership with the company. Patino's first project under the deal is a series adaptation of Image Comics' ''Nocterra''. On December 6, 2021, Netflix and Stage 32 announced that they have teamed up the workshops at the Creating Content for the Global Marketplace program. On December 7, 2021, Netflix partnered with IllumiNative, a woman-led non-profit organization, for the Indigenous Producers Training Program. On December 9, Netflix announced the launch of " Tudum", an official companion website that offers news, exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes videos for its original television shows and films. On December 13, Netflix signed a multi-year overall deal with Kalinda Vazquez. On December 16, 2021, Netflix signed a multi-year creative partnership with Spike Lee and his production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks to develop film and television projects. In compliance with the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive and its implementation in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, Netflix reached commitments with French broadcasting authorities and film guilds, as required by law, to invest a specific amount of its annual revenue into original French films and series. These films must be theatrically released and would not be allowed to be carried on Netflix until 15 months after their release. In January 2022, Netflix ordered additional sports docuseries from ''Drive to Survive'' producers Box to Box Films, including a series that would follow
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
golfers, and another that would follow professional tennis players on the ATP and WTA Tour circuits. The company announced plans to acquire Next Games in March 2022 for €65 million as part of Netflix's expansions into gaming. Next Games had developed the mobile title ''Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales'' as well as two ''The Walking Dead'' mobile games. Later in the month, Netflix also acquired the
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
-based mobile game developer, Boss Fight Entertainment, for an undisclosed sum. On March 15, 2022, Netflix announced a partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises to produce five new series and specials based on Seuss properties following the success of '' Green Eggs and Ham''. On March 29, 2022, Netflix announced that it would open an office in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
to serve as a hub for its original productions across
Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...
. On March 30, 2022, Netflix extended its lease agreement with Martini Film Studios, just outside
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, for another five years. On March 31, 2022, Netflix ordered a docuseries that would follow teams in the 2022 Tour de France, which would also be co-produced by Box to Box Films''.'' Following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, Netflix suspended its operations and future projects in Russia. It also announced that it would not comply with a proposed directive by Roskomnadzor requiring all internet streaming services with more than 100,000 subscribers to integrate the major free-to-air channels (which are primarily state-owned). A month later, ex-Russian subscribers filed a class action lawsuit against Netflix. Netflix stated that 100 million households globally were sharing passwords to their account with others, and that Canada and the United States accounted for 30 million of them. Following these announcements, Netflix's stock price fell by 35 percent. By June 2022, Netflix had laid off 450 full-time and contract employees as part of the company's plan to trim costs amid lower than expected subscriber growth. On April 13, 2022, Netflix released the series '' Our Great National Parks'', which was hosted and narrated by former US President Barack Obama. It also partnered with Group Effort Initiative, a company founded by Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, to provide opportunities behind the camera for those in underrepresented communities. On the same day, Netflix partnered with Lebanon-based Arab Fund For Arts And Culture for supporting the Arab female filmmakers. It will provide a one-time grant of $250,000 to female producers and directors in the Arab world through the company's Fund for Creative Equity. Also on the same day, Netflix announced an '' Exploding Kittens'' mobile card game tied to a new animated TV series, which will launch in May. Netflix formed a creative partnership with J. Miles Dale. The company also formed a partnership with Japan's Studio Colorido, signing a multi-film deal to boost their anime content in Asia. The streaming giant is said to co-produce three feature films with the studio, the first of which will premiere in September 2022. On April 28, the company launched its inaugural ''Netflix Is a Joke'' comedy festival, featuring more than 250 shows over 12 nights at 30-plus locations across Los Angeles, including the first-ever stand-up show at Dodger Stadium. The first volume of '' Stranger Things 4'' logged Netflix's biggest premiere weekend ever for an original series with 286.79 million hours viewed. This was preceded by a new ''Stranger Things'' interactive experience hosted in New York City that was developed by the show's creators. After the release of the second volume of ''Stranger Things 4'' on July 1, 2022, it became Netflix's second title to receive more than one billion hours viewed. On July 19, 2022, Netflix announced plans to acquire Australian animation studio Animal Logic. That month, in collaboration with Sennheiser, Netflix began to add Ambeo 2-channel audio mixes (referred to as " spatial audio") to selected original productions, which allows simulated surround sound on stereo speakers and headphones. On September 5, 2022, Netflix opened an office in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Poland responsible for the service's operations in 28 markets in Central and Eastern Europe. On October 4, 2022, Netflix have signed a creative partnership with Andrea Berloff and John Gatins. On October 11, Netflix signed up with the
Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Barb Audiences Ltd (formerly Broadcasters Audience Research Board) is a British organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1981 to replace two previous systems whereby ITV (T ...
for external measurement of viewership in the UK. On October 12, Netflix signed to build a production complex at Fort Monmouth in Eatontown, New Jersey. On October 18, Netflix began exploring a cloud gaming offering and opened a new gaming studio in Southern California. On November 7, 2022, Netflix announced a strategic partnership with The Seven, a Japanese production company owned by TBS Holdings, to produce multiple original live-action titles for the subscribers over the next five years. On December 12, 2022, Netflix announced that sixty-percent of its subscribers had watched a Korean drama. CEO Ted Sarandos attributed the increase in viewership of Korean content among Americans to Korean films and dramas being "often unpredictable" and catching "the American audience by surprise". On January 10, 2023, Netflix announced plans to open an engineering hub in its Warsaw office. The hub is to provide Netflix's creative partners with software solutions for the production of films and series. In February 2023, Netflix launched a wider rollout of spatial audio, and began allowing Premium subscribers to download content for offline playback on up to six devices (expanded from four). On March 4, 2023, Netflix broadcast its first-ever global live-streaming event, the stand-up comedy special '' Chris Rock: Selective Outrage''. Netflix reworked its viewership metrics again in June 2023. Viewership of shows was measured during the first 91 days of availability, instead of the first 28 days, and now are based on the total viewership hours divided by the total hours of the show itself. This provided more equal considerations for shorter shows and movies compared to longer ones. In August 2023, the company announced Netflix Stories, a collection of interactive narrative games from Netflix series and movies such as '' Love is Blind'', '' Money Heist'' and '' Virgin River''.


Co-CEOs, discontinuation of DVD rentals, expansion of live events, WWE agreement (2023–present)

In January 2023, Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos were named co-CEOs of Netflix, with Hastings assuming the role of executive chairman. Peters previously served as COO and Chief Product Officer, while Sarandos served as Chief Content Officer. On April 18, 2023, Netflix announced that it would discontinue its DVD-by-mail service on September 29. Users of the service were able to keep the DVDs that they had received. Over its lifetime the service had sent out over 5 billion shipments. In October 2023, Eunice Kim was promoted to Chief Product Officer and Elizabeth Stone was promoted to Chief Technology Officer. That same month, amid a restructuring of its animation division, Netflix announced a multi-film agreement with Skydance Animation beginning with '' Spellbound'' (2024). The agreement partially replaces one it had with Apple TV+. In December 2023, Netflix released its first "What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report", a look at viewership for every original and licensed title watched more than 50,000 hours from January to June 2023. The company also announced plans to publish the report twice a year. In its first report for the first six months of 2023, it revealed that '' The Night Agent'' was the most watched show globally during that period. On January 23, 2024, Netflix announced a major agreement with
professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promotion WWE, under which it will acquire the international rights to its live weekly program ''Raw'' beginning January 6, 2025; the rights will initially cover the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, and expand to other territories over time. Outside of the United States, it will also hold international rights to all three of WWE's main weekly programs (''Raw'', '' SmackDown'', and '' NXT''), premium live events, and documentaries among other content. The agreement was reported to be valued at $500 million per-year over ten years. In February 2024, Netflix joined with Peter Morgan, creator of the Netflix series ''The Crown'', to produce the play ''Patriots'' on Broadway. The venture is the first Broadway credit for the company but not its first stage project. It was actively involved as a producer of '' Stranger Things: The First Shadow'' in London. Both productions share a lead producer, Sonia Friedman. In May 2024, the company hosted its second Netflix Is a Joke festival in Los Angeles. It streamed several specials from the festival live, including Katt Williams's ''Woke Folk'' and '' The Roast of Tom Brady'', both of which ranked on Netflix's global top 10 the following two weeks. That same month, Netflix announced that it would stream both
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
Christmas games in 2024. For 2025 and 2026, the streamer will have exclusive rights to at least one NFL Christmas game each year. In June 2024, Netflix announced that it would develop new entertainment venues known as "Netflix House" at King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania and Galleria Dallas in Texas. The spaces will feature retail shops, restaurants, and other interactive experiences related to Netflix original content, building upon other " pop-up" initiatives to promote individual programs. In November 2024, Netflix announced that it would discontinue further work on interactive specials and remove all but four of them from the platform, citing a desire to focus on "technological efforts in other areas". On November 15, 2024, Netflix streamed a boxing event from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, featuring as co-main events an exhibition match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, and Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano for the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and ''The Ring'' lightweight titles. While afflicted by technical issues, Paul's promoter reported that the stream had a peak concurrent viewership of 65 million viewers, surpassing the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup final (which had a reported 57 million concurrent streams on Disney+ Hotstar) as the most live-streamed sporting event. Netflix stated that the event had an "average minute audience" (AMA) of 108 million worldwide, and that the AMA of 47 million in the United States made the Taylor vs. Serrano bout the most-watched women's professional sporting event in U.S. history. On December 20, 2024,
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
announced that Netflix would be the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of the 2027 and 2031
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
, in what was deemed the platform's most significant push into sports content. On Christmas Day 2024, Netflix aired its first-ever NFL games: the Kansas City Chiefs versus the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
, and the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...
versus the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
. The games both averaged over 30 million global viewers and became the two most-streamed NFL games in US history, while simultaneously creating Netflix's most-watched Christmas Day ever in the US. In January 2025, Netflix announced that it had exceeded 300 million subscribers worldwide after adding a record 18.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, amounting to 41 million for the full year. In May 2025, Netflix announced a redesign of its home page that features fewer titles with more video and animation. It was the first time the company had made significant changes to its home page since 2013. The redesign is intended to help its users choose what to watch more simple and efficient, while featuring new content types such as live programming and mobile games.


Availability and access


Global availability

Netflix is available in every country and territory except for
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
,
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. In January 2016, Netflix announced it would begin VPN blocking since it can be used to watch videos from a country where they are unavailable. The result of the VPN block is that people can only watch videos available worldwide and other videos are hidden from search results. Variety is present on Netflix. Hebrew and right-to-left interface orientation, which is a common localization strategy in many markets, are what define the Israeli user interface's localization, and in some regions, Netflix offers a more affordable mobile-only subscription.


Subscriptions

Customers can subscribe to one of three plans; the difference in plans relates to video resolution, the number of simultaneous streams, and the number of devices to which content can be downloaded. At the end of Q1 2022, Netflix estimated that 100 million households globally were sharing passwords to their account with others. In March 2022, Netflix began to charge a fee for additional users in Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica to attempt to control account sharing. On July 18, 2022, Netflix announced that it would test the account sharing feature in more countries, including Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. On October 17, Netflix launched Profile Transfer to help end account sharing. On July 13, 2022, Netflix announced plans to launch an advertising-supported subscription option. Netflix's planned advertising tier would not allow subscribers to download content like the existing ad-free platform. On July 20, 2022, it was announced that the advertising-supported tier would be coming to Netflix in 2023 but it would not feature the full library of content. In October, the launch date was announced as November 3, 2022, and was launched in 12 countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, Spain, Australia, Japan and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. The ad-supported plan was called "Basic with Ads" and it cost $6.99 per month in the United States at launch. On February 24, 2023, Netflix cut subscription prices in more than 30 countries around the world to attract more subscribers from those countries.
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, the Philippines,
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
,
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
are on the list of countries where the cost for a subscription will be reduced. In the same month stronger anti-password-sharing rules were expanded to Canada, New Zealand,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. In May 2023, these measures were further expanded to United States and Brazil subscribers. In July 2023, Netflix added 5.9 million subscribers for the second quarter of the year for a total of 238.39 million subscribers overall. The United States and Canada accounted for 1.2 million subscribers which was the largest regional quarterly gain since 2021. Netflix announced in February that it was going to enforce stricter regulations for password sharing. In May 2023, Netflix began cracking down on password-sharing in the US, UK, and Australia. Under these new rules, multiple people can use and share one account, but they have to be under the same household. Netflix defines a household as people who live in the same location as the owner of the account. Users are asked to set a primary location based on the device's IP address. Netflix reported 8.05 million new subscribers in Q2 2024, up from 5.9 million subscribers added in Q2 2023. In July 2024, Netflix started phasing out its cheapest subscription plan for users in France and the US, a year after the plan was removed for Canada and the UK. Members in these countries have the option to sign up for either the standard ad-free plan or the ad plan.


Device support

Netflix can be accessed via a
web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...
, while Netflix apps are available on various platforms, including
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
players,
tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s, mobile phones, smart TVs, digital media players, and
video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally ...
s. Currently supported game consoles include: * Microsoft
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
,
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
and Xbox Series X/S * Sony
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 Several older devices no longer support Netflix. For home gaming consoles, this includes the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
, PlayStation TV, Wii and Wii U. For handheld gaming consoles, this includes the Nintendo 3DS family of systems and the PlayStation Vita. The second and third generation Apple TV previously supported Netflix with an ad-free plan, but the app was automatically removed on these devices on July 31, 2024. In addition, a growing number of multichannel television providers, including cable television and
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
services, have added Netflix apps accessible within their own
set-top box A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...
es, sometimes with the ability for its content (along with those of other online video services) to be presented within a unified search interface alongside linear television programming as an "all-in-one" solution. The maximum video resolution supported on computers is dependent on the DRM systems available on a particular operating system and web browser.


Content


Original programming

" Netflix Originals" are content that is produced, co-produced, or distributed exclusively by Netflix. Netflix funds its original shows differently than other TV networks when they sign a project, providing the money upfront and immediately ordering two seasons of most series. It keeps licensing rights, which normally give production companies future revenue opportunities from syndication, merchandising, etc. Over the years, Netflix output ballooned to a level unmatched by any television network or streaming service. According to ''Variety Insight'', Netflix produced a total of 240 new original shows and movies in 2018, then climbed to 371 in 2019, a figure "greater than the number of original series that the entire U.S. TV industry released in 2005." The Netflix budget allocated to production increased annually, reaching $13.6 billion in 2021 and projected to hit $18.9 billion by 2025, a figure that once again overshadowed any of its competitors. As of August 2022, original productions made up 50% of Netflix's overall library in the United States.


Film and television deals

Netflix has exclusive
pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
deals with several studios. The deals give Netflix exclusive streaming rights while adhering to the structures of traditional pay TV terms. Distributors that have licensed content to Netflix include Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and previously The Walt Disney Studios. Netflix also holds current and back-catalog rights to television programs distributed by Walt Disney Television, DreamWorks Classics, Kino International, PBS, Warner Bros. Television and Paramount Global Content Distribution, along with titles from other companies such as ABS-CBN Studios, GMA Pictures, Cignal Entertainment, MQ Studios, Regal Entertainment, Viva Films, MNC Media, Screenplay Films, Soraya Intercine Films, , , Rapi Films, , CJ ENM, JTBC,
Kakao Entertainment Kakao Entertainment Corp. () is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the Internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPa ...
, TBS,
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
,
Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
,
Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...
, Primeworks Studios, GMM Grammy, Public Television Service, Gala Television, ITV Studios, Hasbro Entertainment and StudioCanal. Formerly, the streaming service also held rights to select television programs distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Sony Pictures Television and
20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...
. Netflix negotiated to distribute animated films from Universal that HBO declined to acquire, such as '' The Lorax'', '' ParaNorman'', and '' Minions''. Netflix holds exclusive streaming rights to the film library of Studio Ghibli (except '' Grave of the Fireflies'') worldwide except in the U.S. and Japan as part of an agreement signed with Ghibli's international sales holder Wild Bunch in 2020.


Netflix Games

In July 2021, Netflix hired Mike Verdu, a former executive from
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
and
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, as vice president of game development, along with plans to add video games by 2022. Netflix announced plans to release mobile games that would be included in subscribers' service plans. Trial offerings were first launched for Netflix users in Poland in August 2021, offering premium mobile games based on ''Stranger Things'' including '' Stranger Things 3: The Game'', for free to subscribers through the Netflix mobile app. Netflix officially launched mobile games on November 2, 2021, for Android users around the world. Through the app, subscribers had free access to five games, including two previously made '' Stranger Things'' titles. Netflix intends to add more games to this service over time. On November 9, the collection launched for iOS. Verdu said in October 2022 that besides continuing to expand their portfolio of games, they were also interested in cloud gaming options. To support the games effort, Netflix began acquiring and forming a number of studios. The company acquired Night School Studio, an independent video game developer, in September 2021. Netflix announced plans to acquire Next Games in March 2022 for as part of Netflix's expansions into gaming. Next Games had developed the mobile title ''Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales'' as well as two ''The Walking Dead'' mobile games. Later in the month, Netflix also acquired the
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
-based mobile game developer, Boss Fight Entertainment, for an undisclosed sum. Netflix opened a mobile game studio in Helsinki, Finland in September 2022, and a new studio, their fifth overall, in
southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
in October 2022, alongside the acquisition of Spry Fox in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. In June 2024, Verdu was moved into a new role focusing on "innovation in game development." The next month, Netflix hired Alain Tascan, vice president of game development at
Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...
, to head up Netflix Games. As of July 2024, Netflix has over 80 games in development, releasing at least one game each month to attract fans. The company shut down its Southern California "Team Blue" AAA gaming studio in October 2024, leading to the departure of developers like '' Overwatch'' producer Chacko Sonny, '' Halo'' veteran Joseph Staten and '' God of War'' art director Rafael Grassetti. Netflix indicated that it maintains a commitment to grow its gaming business despite the changes. In late October, Netflix announced several games based on hit series including Netflix Stories: Outer Banks, Netflix Stories: A Perfect Couple, Netflix Stories: A Virgin River Christmas, and The Ultimatum: Choices, as well as a new daily word game in partnership with TED Talks, TED Tumblewords.


Technology


Content delivery

Netflix freely peers with
Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...
s (ISPs) directly and at common
Internet exchange point Internet exchange points (IXes or IXPs) are common grounds of Internet Protocol, IP networking, allowing participant Internet service provider, Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are ...
s. In June 2012, a custom
content delivery network A content delivery network (CDN) or content distribution network is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers. The goal is to provide high availability and performance ("speed") by distributing the service spat ...
, Open Connect, was announced. For larger ISPs with over 100,000 subscribers, Netflix offers free ''Netflix Open Connect'' computer appliances that cache their content within the ISPs' data centers or networks to further reduce Internet transit costs. By August 2016, Netflix closed its last physical data center, but continued to develop its Open Connect technology. A 2016 study at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
detected 233 individual Open Connect locations on over six continents, with the largest amount of traffic in the US, followed by Mexico. As of July 2017, Netflix series and movies accounted for more than a third of all prime-time download Internet traffic in North America.


API

On October 1, 2008, Netflix offered access to its service via a public
application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that des ...
(API). It allowed access to data for all Netflix titles, and allows users to manage their movie queues. The API was free and allowed commercial use. In June 2012, Netflix began to restrict the availability of its public API. Netflix instead focused on a small number of known partners using private interfaces, since most traffic came from those private interfaces. In November 2014, Netflix retired the public API. Netflix then partnered with the developers of eight services deemed the most valuable, including Instant Watcher, Fanhattan, Yidio and Nextguide.


Recommendations and thumbnails

Netflix presents viewers with recommendations based on interactions with the service, such as previous viewing history and ratings of viewed content. These are often grouped into genres and formats, or feature the platform's highest-rated content. Each title is presented with a thumbnail. Before around 2015, these were the same key art for everyone, but since then has been customized. Netflix may select a specific key art for a thumbnail based on viewing history, such as an actor or scene type based on genre preferences. Some thumbnails are generated from video stills. The Netflix recommendation system is a vital part of the streaming platform's success, enabling personalized content suggestions for hundreds of millions of subscribers worldwide. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, Netflix analyzes user interactions, including viewing history, searches, and ratings, to deliver personalized recommendations for movies and TV shows. The recommendation system considers individual user preferences, similarities with other users with comparable tastes, specific title attributes (genre, release year, etc.), device usage patterns, and viewing time. As users interact with the platform and provide feedback with their viewing habits, the recommendation system is able to adapt and refine its suggestions over time. Netflix uses a two-tiered ranking system, using the presentation of titles on the homepage for easy navigation to maximize user engagement. This is done by organizing content into rows and ranking the titles within each row based on how much the user would be interested in it. Netflix also uses A/B testing to determine what causes the biggest interest and engagement related to options concerning movie suggestions and how titles are organized. Tags like "bittersweet", "sitcom", or "intimate" are assigned to each title by Netflix employees. Netflix also uses the tags to create recommendation micro-genres like "Goofy TV Shows" or "Girls Night In". Netflix launched "responsive recommendations", which display titles on the home page based on what its users are actively searching, in 2025.


Awards

On July 18, 2013, Netflix earned the first
Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
nominations for original
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programs at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. Three of its series, ''Arrested Development'', '' Hemlock Grove'' and '' House of Cards'', earned a combined 14 nominations (nine for ''House of Cards'', three for ''Arrested Development'' and two for ''Hemlock Grove''). The ''House of Cards'' episode " Chapter 1" received four nominations for both the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards and 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, becoming the first episode of a streaming television series to receive a major Primetime Emmy Award nomination. With its win for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, "Chapter 1" became the first episode from a streaming service to be awarded an Emmy. David Fincher's win for Directing for a Drama Series for ''House of Cards'' made the episode the first from a streaming service to win a Primetime Emmy. On November 6, 2013, Netflix earned its first Grammy nomination when You've Got Time by Regina Spektor—the main title theme song for ''Orange Is the New Black''—was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media. On December 12, 2013, the network earned six nominations for
Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
, including four for ''House of Cards''. Among those nominations was Wright for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for her portrayal of Claire Underwood, which she won. With the accolade, Wright became the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a streaming television series. It also marked Netflix's first major acting award. ''House of Cards'' and ''Orange is the New Black'' also won Peabody Awards in 2013. On January 16, 2014, Netflix became the first streaming service to earn an Academy Award nomination when ''The Square'' was nominated for Best Documentary Feature. On July 10, 2014, Netflix received 31 Emmy nominations. Among other nominations, ''House of Cards'' received nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright were nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. ''Orange is the New Black'' was nominated in the comedy categories, earning nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. Taylor Schilling, Kate Mulgrew, and Uzo Aduba were respectively nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (the latter was for Aduba's recurring role in season one, as she was promoted to series regular for the show's second season). Netflix got the largest share of 2016 Emmy Award nominations, with 16 major nominations. However, streaming shows only got 24 nominations out of a total of 139, falling significantly behind cable. The 16 Netflix nominees were: ''House of Cards'' with Kevin Spacey, ''A Very Murray Christmas'' with Bill Murray, ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'', ''Master of None'', and ''Bloodline''. ''Stranger Things'' received 19 nominations at the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards, while ''
The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
'' received 13 nominations. In December 2017, Netflix was awarded PETA's Company of the Year for promoting animal rights movies and documentaries like '' Forks Over Knives'' and '' What the Health''. At the 90th Academy Awards, held on March 4, 2018, the film '' Icarus'', distributed by Netflix, won its first Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. During his remarks backstage, director and writer Bryan Fogel remarked that Netflix had "single-handedly changed the documentary world." ''Icarus'' had its premiere at the 2017
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
and was bought by Netflix for $5 million, one of the biggest deals ever for a non-fiction film. Netflix became the network whose programs received more nomination at the 2018 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards with 112 nominations, therefore breaking
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's 17-years record as a network whose programs received more nomination at the Emmys, which received 108 nominations. On January 22, 2019, films distributed by Netflix scored 15 nominations for the 91st Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture for
Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( ; ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Alfonso Cuarón, His accolades include four Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and seven BAFTA Awards. Cuarón made h ...
's '' Roma'', which was nominated for 10 awards. The 15 nominations equal the total nominations films distributed by Netflix had received in previous years. In 2020, Netflix received 20 TV nominations and films distributed by Netflix also got 22 film nominations at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. It secured three out of the five nominations for best drama TV series for ''
The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
'', '' Ozark'' and '' Ratched'' and four of the five nominations for best actress in a TV series: Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin, Laura Linney and Sarah Paulson. In 2020, Netflix earned 24 Academy Award nominations, marking the first time a streaming service led all studios. Films and programs distributed by Netflix received 30 nominations at the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards, more than any other distribution company, where their distributed films and programs won seven awards including best motion picture for '' The Trial of the Chicago 7'' and best TV drama for ''
The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
''. Netflix also received the most nominations of any studio at the 93rd Academy Awards—35 total nominations with 7 award wins. In February 2022, '' The Power of the Dog'', a gritty western distributed by Netflix and directed by Jane Campion, received 12 nominations, including Best Picture, for the 94th annual Academy Awards. Films distributed by the streamer received a total of 72 nominations. Campion became the third female to receive the Best Director award, winning her second Oscar for ''The Power of the Dog''. At the 50th International Emmy Awards, Netflix original ''
Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...
'' won Best Comedy Series. Later that year, Netflix received 26 Emmy Awards including six for ''Squid Game''. The ''Squid Game'' wins for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series were the first-ever for a non-English language series in those categories. In March 2023, Netflix won six Academy Awards including four for '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' which was the most awarded Netflix film in its history. '' Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio'' was the first streaming film to named Best Animated Feature and '' The Elephant Whisperers'' was the first Indian-produced film to receive Best Documentary Short Film. Netflix received 103 Emmy nominations including 13 each for the limited series ''Beef'''' and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.'' In July 2024, Netflix received 107 Emmy nominations, which was the most of any network. In January 2025, Netflix received 18 Academy Award nominations, the most of any studio.


Criticism

Netflix has been subject to criticism from various groups and individuals as its popularity and market reach increased in the 2010s. Customers have complained about price increases in Netflix offerings dating back to the company's decision to separate its DVD rental and streaming services, which was quickly reversed. As Netflix increased its streaming output, it has faced calls to limit accessibility to graphic violence and include viewer advisories for issues such as sensationalism and promotion of pseudoscience. Netflix's content has also been criticized by disability rights movement advocates for lack of closed captioning quality. Some media organizations and competitors have criticized Netflix for selectively releasing ratings and viewer numbers of its original programming. The company has made claims boasting about viewership records without providing data to substantiate its successes or using problematic estimation methods. In March 2020, some government agencies called for Netflix and other streamers to limit services due to increased broadband and energy consumption as use of the platform increased. In response, the company announced it would reduce
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across all streams in Europe, thus decreasing Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25 percent. These same steps were later taken in India. In May 2022, Netflix's shareholder Imperium Irrevocable Trust filed a lawsuit against the company for violating the U.S.
securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
laws. In January 2024, a federal judge dismissed the suit, stating that shareholders failed to provide instances of Netflix lying about subscriber growth. In May 2023, Netflix officially banned the use of password sharing between individuals of different households, meaning sharing an account was only available to those living in the same house. After reporting a record number of new subscribers in Q4 2024, Netflix raised prices in early 2025.


See also

* List of streaming media services


References


Further reading

* *


External links

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