In a time that many companies are suffering unscrupulous setbacks, Netflix picked up subscribers in Canada to add nearly 16 million global customers during the first three months of the year, helping cement its status as one of the world’s most essential services in times of crisis.
According to reports, the quarter spanned the beginning of stay-at-home orders in the U.S., Canada and around the world, a response to the coronavirus pandemic that apparently led millions to latch onto Netflix for entertainment and comfort when most had nowhere to be but home.
Official records have it that Netflix more than doubled the quarterly growth it predicted in January, well before the COVID-19 outbreak began to shut down many major economies. Remarkably, it was the biggest three-month gain in the 13-year history of Netflix’s streaming service.
Our correspondent gathered that the numbers — recently released as part of Netflix’s first-quarter earnings report — support a growing belief that video streaming is likely to thrive even as the overall U.S. economy sinks into its first recession in more than a decade.
Reports have it that over the past year, Netflix’s growth in the U.S. and Canada had slowed significantly. But the pandemic seems to have reversed that trend for the moment. Netflix added 2.3 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada in the first quarter, up from 1.9 million at the same time last year.
But, it’s unclear from the way Netflix discloses its numbers how many of the new subscribers are from Canada. The company briefly provided figures at the end of 2019 which shed light on its customer base across the country, but it now prefers to lump its operations into regions.
It would be recalled that the company has previously said Canada represents roughly 10 per cent of its North American subscriber base, which would suggest it grew its subscribers here by 230,000 in Canada during the quarter, which compares to 125,000 paid sign-ups during the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2019.
In a statement, Netflix said “We’re acutely aware that we are fortunate to have a service that is even more meaningful to people confined at home, and which we can operate remotely with minimal disruption”.
According to reports, Investor optimism about Netflix’s prospects propelled the company’s stock to new highs recently, a sharp contrast with the decline in the broader market.
Multiple reports suggest that even though it faces plenty of competition, Netflix appears better positioned to take advantage of the surging demand for TV shows and movies largely because of its head start in video streaming.
Official records also have it that since beginning its foray into original programming seven years ago, Netflix has built up a deep catalogue that can feed viewer appetites even though the pandemic response has shut down production on many new shows.
Chief content officer, Ted Sarandos reassured investors in a video interview that he doesn’t foresee troubles with Netflix’s future releases, because seasons of TV series are produced in full, long before they hit the service, unlike many traditional network TV programs.
Sarandos said “Our 2020 slate of series and films are largely shot and are in post-production remotely in locations all over the world, and we’re actually pretty deep into our 2021 slate”.
In addition, the company said that home isolation in countries across the world has made it impossible to produce dubbed versions of some of its original programs “in Italian and some other languages” because the voice talent can’t access the required equipment. Those affected titles would be released in April and May, but a representative was not certain which films or TV series would be impacted and couldn’t say whether the French-language translations were being produced.
