Netflix Stats: Subscribers, Revenue, Growth and More

• The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Source: nielsen.com

According to the Tops of 2020: Nielsen Streaming Unwrapped report, Ozark was the Netflix Original series that was streamed the most in 2020. More than 30 billion minutes were streamed of this American crime drama that stars Jason Bateman. 

In second spot, it was Lucifer with nearly 20 billion minutes, followed by The Crown (16 billion minutes). 

In 2020, The Office was the acquired series that was streamed the most. According to Nielsen’s data, The Office had more than 57 billion minutes streamed. It was followed by Grey’s Anatomy (39 billion minutes) and Criminal Minds (35 billion minutes). 

In 2020, Frozen II was the movie that was streamed the most. It had almost 15 billion minutes streamed. Moana came in second with just over 10 billion minutes and Secret Life of Pets 2 with 9 billion minutes.  

It’s interesting to note that all three of these movies are kids’ movies. This is most likely because kids have no issue to re-watch their favorite movie over and over and over again, much to the despair of their parents. 

Source: statista.com

Netflix rarely publishes data about the viewership of their original shows on Twitter, but recently it revealed information about the huge response to Squid Game. As of 13 October 2021, more than 110 million Netflix accounts have streamed at least two minutes of Squid Game in the last 27 days. Based on this reception, it’s now officially Netflix’s biggest original series launch. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and Chief Content Officer, commented that the company was taken aback by the popularity of this show, especially with regards to its reception across the globe. 

To put its popularity in perspective, the غير مجاز مي باشدtumer drama Bridgerton, that’s in second position, was streamed by only 82 million accounts in its first 28 days after release. 

In fact, Squid Game was so popular that an internet service provider in South Korea, SK Broadband, sued Netflix for maintenance work and the غير مجاز مي باشدts of increased network traffic caused by this rapid increase in viewers. 

Perhaps more interestingly, it was also reported that a South Korean woman consulted a US law firm regarding possible compensation for suffering as her number was unintentionally used as a key element in the series. Consequently, she was flooded with countless calls. In an interview with Money Today, a South Korean newspaper, she shared that she had to delete over 4,000 numbers from her phone. 

It’s reported that Netflix has since then edited out her phone number. It was also reported that Netflix has offered her compensation of up to 5 million South Korean Won. Though, the company has not commented regarding any possible compensation claims. 

According to information shared by KilltheCableBill.com, Netflix users streamed about 3.2 hours of video daily when they had to quarantine at home. This was up by about an hour since the previous year. 

If you convert this to data usage, KilltheCableBill.com estimates that the average user used almost 10GB of data per day during the quarantine to stream content. 

A study that was completed in the middle of 2020 suggests that Netflix probably saved the average US subscriber 58 hours of commercials. As the average US subscriber streamed about 3.2 hours per day and there are about 18 minutes of commercials per hour, this works out to almost an hour of commercials per day that they didn’t have to watch. 

While the Netflix library is steadily growing (according to JustWatch it has about 3,600 movies and 1,800 TV shows), a number of titles have also left the service. In fact, almost a third of US subscribers indicated in a survey that Netflix losing popular shows like The Office was their biggest complaint. 

A similar issue that frustrated US subscribers was Netflix original shows being canceled. However, less than 17% indicated this as their biggest complaint. 

While Netflix has subscribers all over the world, if you’re in Switzerland or Denmark, subscribing to Netflix isn’t really great value for money. After taking into consideration the smaller library size, yet the expensive monthly غير مجاز مي باشدt, Comparitech worked out that Danish and Swiss customers can pay about 120% more per title with the basic plan compared to other customers from other countries. 

Other countries where Netflix offers less value for money are:

• Greece
• Sweden
• Portugal 
• Norway
• Finland
• Spain
• Belgium 

If you’re from Italy, Austria or Germany the basic plan can still offer value, but if you sign up for the standard plan or premium plan, you’ll get less bang for your buck.  

To put it in perspective, in Argentina Netflix can be about 80% cheaper than in the UK and US. 

Other countries where Netflix offers better value for money are:

• Brazil
• Colombia
• South Africa
• India
• Peru
• Mexico
• Philippines
• Canada
• Russia
• South Korea
• Indonesia

Netflix continued its success on the red carpet in 2021 when it received 36 Oscar nominations. No other distributor managed to get as many nominations for this period. The movie Mank received the most nominations – 10. On the night of the ceremony, it won Oscars for Best Production Design and Cinematography. 

Netflix number of Oscar nominations was up by 12 from last year’s tally. 

Most Netflix subscribers come from the United States of America and Canada. These two countries alone accounted for more than 74 million of its total subscribers. This works out to a share of about 35% of Netflix’s global subscriber base. 

In terms of revenue, Business of Apps calculates North America’s contribution to Netflix’s revenue at about $11.45 billion.  

Its second biggest region is Europe, the Middle East and Africa. These regions accounted for about 66.7 million subscribers in 2020. Latin America had 37.5 million followed by Asia-Pacific with 25.4 million. 

When looking at the ethnicity of its viewers, a survey completed in March 2020 in the United States indicated that more than 60% of Hispanic Americans answered that they have subscribed to Netflix. Only 51% of white respondents indicated that they have a current Netflix subscription. That being said, out of all the ethnic groups interviewed, more Hispanic adults indicated that they’ve actually never heard of the brand. 

Though, a survey completed by Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter paints a different picture. In February 2021, they collected responses from US adults about streaming platforms. According to their data, 65% of respondents who subscribed to Netflix were white. Only 31% classified themselves as Hispanic or Black.

Source: morningconsult.com

According to data shared by a Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter survey, millennials account for a third of its subscriber base. Generation X accounted for its second biggest share (26%), while 22% were baby boomers. So, with regards to age, it’s pretty much popular across all age groups. 

There’s also no real difference with regards to gender. It’s only slightly more popular among females who had the highest share of subscribers (52%). 

Source: morningconsult.com

With regards to political affiliations, Netflix is more popular among democrats. Just over 40% of respondents who participated in a Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter survey indicated that they’re democrat, followed by independents (33%), and republicans (25%).

The vast majority of its subscribers also reside in urban or suburban areas. Only 23% indicated that they’re from a rural area. 

Source: morningconsult.com

In a survey completed by a Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter, almost a third (29%) of its subscribers indicated that they never watch sport. Only 13% shared that they watch sport about once per week. 

As of 2020, the company employed about 9,400 full-time employees. This is more than double the number of employees it had four years ago. What’s more, it has transformed from being mainly a US-based company to an international enterprise. 

As of Q2 2021, Statista reports that the company boasted an equal share of male and female employees. According to its data, 47.5% identified as female, 46.1% identified as male and 0.9% listed an additional gender identity. Though, this ratio didn’t apply to all its different departments. For example, in its tech department, 60% of the employees were male, while its Creative and Corporate segment had more female employees.

With regards to ethnicity specifically, as of Q2 2021, 24% of US employees were Asian. More than 8% were Hispanic.   

Wrapping Things Up

Unlike one of its original series, House of Cards, that tumbled when a number of allegations of ***ual assault against Kevin Spacey surfaced, it’s safe to say that Netflix won’t follow the same path. Looking at these statistics, Netflix looks pretty secure. Its subscriber growth is impressive and the content that it has produced even got the attention of power players in entertainment. 

That being said, stranger things have happened and with Apple, Amazon, Disney , Hulu, and HBO Max to name only a few all fighting for a bigger market share, it will be interesting to watch how it unfolds in the next few years. There’ll probably be a documentary about it soon. One thing that is sure is that as long as binge-watching remains one of our favorite pastimes, there’ll always be a need for on-demand streaming services.