Netflix

Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription streaming service and production company. Launched on August 29, 1997, it offers a library of films and television series through distribution deals as well as its own productions, known as ''Netflix Originals''.

As of October 2021, Netflix has over 214 million subscribers worldwide, including 74 million in the United States and Canada, 70 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 39 million in

Latin America

and 30 million in

Asia-Pacific

. It is available worldwide except in

Mainland China

(due to local restrictions),

Syria

,

North Korea

and

Crimea

(due to US sanctions). Netflix has played a prominent role in independent film distribution, and is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Netflix can be accessed via internet browser on computers, or via application software installed on smart TVs, set-top boxes connected to

television

s, tablet computers,

smartphone

s, digital media players,

Blu-ray Disc

players, video game consoles and virtual reality headsets on the list of Netflix-compatible devices. It is available in 4K resolution. In the United States, the company provides DVD and Blu-ray rentals delivered individually via the United States Postal Service from regional

warehouse

s.

Netflix was founded in 1997 by

Reed Hastings

and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California. Netflix initially both sold and rented

DVD

s by mail, but the sales were eliminated within a year to focus on the DVD rental business. In 2007, Netflix introduced streaming media and video on demand. The company expanded to Canada in 2010, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean. Netflix entered the content production industry in 2013, debuting its first series ''House of Cards''. In January 2016, it expanded to an additional 130 countries and then operated in 190 countries.

The company is ranked 164th on the ''Fortune 500'' and 284th on the Forbes Global 2000. It is the largest entertainment/media company by market capitalization. In 2021, Netflix was ranked as the eighth-most trusted brand globally by

Morning Consult

. During the 2010s, Netflix was the top-performing

stock

in the

S&P 500

stock market index, with a total return of 3,693%.

Netflix is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, in Santa Clara County, with the two CEOs, Hastings and Ted Sarandos, split between Los Gatos and

Los Angeles

, respectively. The company is seen as part of the

Silicon Valley

high-tech world. It also operates international offices in

Asia

,

Europe

and

Latin America

including in

Canada

,

France

,

Brazil

,

Netherlands

,

India

,

Japan

,

South Korea

and the

United Kingdom

. The company has production hubs in Los Angeles,

Albuquerque

,

London

,

Madrid

,

Vancouver

and

Toronto

. Compared to other distributors, Netflix pays more for TV shows up front, but keeps more "upside" (i.e. future revenue opportunities from possible syndication, merchandising, etc.) on big hits.

In December 2021, former Netflix engineer Sung Mo Jun was sentenced to 14 months in prison for an insider trading scheme where he would leak subscriber numbers in advance of official releases.

History

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

On August 29, 1997, Marc Randolph and

Reed Hastings

founded Netflix in Scotts Valley, California. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, was a co-founder of Pure Atria, which was acquired by Rational Software Corporation in 1997 for $700 million, then the biggest acquisition in

Silicon Valley

history.

Randolph had worked as a marketing director for Pure Atria 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 International., One of Randolph’s paternal great-granduncles was psychoanalysis pioneer

Sigmund Freud

. Another paternal great-uncle of Randolph was Edward Bernays

Hastings and Randolph came up with the idea for Netflix while carpooling between their homes in Santa Cruz, California and Pure Atria's headquarters in Sunnyvale. Patty McCord, later head of

human resources

at Netflix, was also in the carpool group. Randolph admired Amazon.com and wanted to find a large category of portable items to sell over the

Internet

using a similar model. Hastings and Randolph considered and rejected selling and renting VHS tapes as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship. When they heard about DVDs, first introduced in the United States on March 24, 1997, they tested the concept of selling or renting DVDs by mail by mailing a compact disc to Hastings's house in Santa Cruz. When the disc 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 being late to return a copy of ''Apollo 13'', but he and Randolph designed this apocryphal story to explain the company's business model and motivation. Hastings invested $2.5 million in cash from the proceeds of the Pure Atria sale into Netflix. Netflix launched as the world's first online DVD-rental store, with only 30 employees and 925 titles available—almost the entire catalogue of DVDs at the time.

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.

In 1998, Randolph and Hastings met with

Jeff Bezos

, where Amazon.com offered to acquire Netflix for between $14 and $16 million. Fearing competition from Amazon, Randolph at first thought the offer was fair but Hastings, who held a major 70% of the company, turned it down on the plane ride home. In September 2000, during the dot-com bubble, while Netflix was suffering losses, Hastings and Randolph offered to sell the company to Blockbuster LLC 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 (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 Patty McCord. The company became a public company on May 29, 2002, selling 5.5 million shares of common stock at US$15.00 per share. Netflix 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.

Randolph stepped down as CEO in 1999 and left the company in 2003 to mentor other startups.

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 that Netflix ultimately "killed" Blockbuster in the DVD rental market, Blockbuster's debt load and internal disagreements hurt the company.

In September 2004, Netflix was sued for false advertising in relation to claims of "unlimited rentals" with "one-day delivery". The suit was settled in November 2005, with Netflix offering a free month of service or upgrade.

On April 4, 2006, Netflix filed a patent infringement lawsuit in which it demanded a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Blockbuster LLC's online DVD rental subscription program violated two patents held by Netflix. The first cause of action alleged Blockbuster's infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,024,381 (issued April 4, 2006; only hours before the lawsuit was filed) by 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 Patent No. 6,584,450 (issued June 24, 2003), which covers in less detail 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

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, is a recommendation system that recommended movies to its users, many of which they might not ever had heard of before.

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, in part to avoid competition with its studio partners.

Transition to streaming services (2007–2012)

In January 2007, the company launched a streaming media service, introducing video on demand via the Internet. However, at that time it only had 1,000 films available for streaming, compared to 70,000 available on DVD. The company had for some time considered offering movies online, but it was only in the mid-2000s that data speeds and bandwidth costs had improved sufficiently to allow customers to download movies from the net. 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 were despite lack of high-definition content, the concept of using a hardware device was scrapped and replaced with a streaming concept.

In February 2007, Netflix delivered its billionth DVD, a copy of ''Babel (film), Babel'' to a customer in Texas.

In April 2007, Netflix recruited Anthony Wood (businessman), Anthony Wood, one of the early Digital video recorder, DVR business pioneers, to build a "Netflix Player" that would allow streaming content to be played directly on a television set rather than a PC or laptop. While the player was initially developed at Netflix, Reed Hastings eventually shut down the project to help encourage other hardware manufacturers to include built-in Netflix support. Wood quit Netflix and founded Roku, Inc. to launch the player, making him a billionaire. Netflix invested $6 million in Roku.

In January 2008, all rental-disc subscribers became entitled to unlimited streaming at no additional cost (however, subscribers on the restricted plan of two DVDs per month ($4.99) remained limited to two hours of streaming per month). This change came in a response to the introduction of Hulu and to Apple Inc., Apple'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 Amazon Web Services cloud, which was completed in January 2016.

In November 2008, Netflix began offering subscribers rentals on Blu-ray 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 28 days prior to retail, in an attempt to help studios sell physical copies, and similar deals involving Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox 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 Pictures, Paramount, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 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, the company first began offering streaming service to the international market, in Canada.

In November 2010, Netflix began offering a standalone streaming service separate from DVD rentals.

In December 2010, Netflix signed a content deal with FilmDistrict.

In 2010, Netflix acquired the rights to ''Breaking Bad'', produced by Sony Pictures Television, after the show's third season, at a point where original broadcaster AMC (TV channel), 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 binging 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 introduced a Netflix button for certain remote controls, allowing users to instantly access Netflix on compatible devices.

In February 2011, Netflix lost the rights to select titles from vintage re-distributor The Criterion Collection, as these titles were pulled from Netflix and added to Hulu's library.

In March 2011, Netflix began acquiring original content for its library, beginning with the hour-long political drama ''House of Cards (American TV series), House of Cards'', which debuted in February 2013. The series was produced by David Fincher, and starred Kevin Spacey.

As of March 28, 2011, Netflix had 58 DVD shipping locations throughout the United States.

In April 2011, Netflix expanded its relationship with Viz Media to offer anime titles.

In May 2011, Netflix's streaming business became the largest source of Internet streaming traffic in North America, accounting for 30% of traffic during peak hours.

In May 2011, streaming media continued to gain market share over DVDs.

In May 2011, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes welcomed Netflix's ability to monetize older content that was previously not generating money for media companies.

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. Charging customers for its mail rental service and streaming service separately meant a price increase for customers who wanted to continue receiving both services. The cost for streaming would be $7.99 per month, while DVD rental would start at the same price. The announcement led to panned reception among Netflix's Facebook followers. Twitter comments spiked a negative "Dear Netflix" trend.

In September 2011, Netflix announced a content deal with DreamWorks Animation.

On September 1, 2011, Starz (TV channel), Starz ceased renewal talks with Netflix. As a result, Starz's library of films and series were removed from Netflix on February 28, 2012. Titles available on DVD were not affected and can still be acquired from Netflix via its DVD-by-mail service. However, select films broadcast on Starz continue to be available on Netflix under license from their respective television distributors.

In September 2011, Netflix expanded to 43 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. Andy Rendich, a 12-year Netflix veteran, was to be CEO of Qwikster. Qwikster would carry video games whereas Netflix did not. It was also announced that the re-branded service would add video game rentals. The decision to split the services was widely criticized; it was noted that the two websites would have been autonomous from each other (with ratings, reviews, and queues not carrying over between them), and would have required separate user accounts. Also, the two websites would require separate subscriptions.

However, on October 10, 2011, in a reversal, Netflix announced that it would retain its DVD service under the name Netflix and would not, in fact, create Qwikster for that purpose. Netflix announced that its streaming and DVD-rental plans would remain branded together. Netflix announced that the reversal was in response to customer feedback, and that the DVD-by-mail and streaming services would continue to operate through a single website under the Netflix brand. Netflix lost 800,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2011—a loss partially credited to the poor reception of the aborted re-branding.

In November 2011, Netflix picked up two eight-episode seasons of ''Lilyhammer'' and a fourth season of the ex-Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox sitcom ''Arrested Development (TV series), Arrested Development''.

On January 4, 2012, Netflix started its expansion to

Europe

, launching in the

United Kingdom

and Ireland.

In February 2012, Netflix signed a licensing deal 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 Federal Election Commission (FEC) to form a political action committee (PAC) called FLIXPAC. ''Politico'' referred to the PAC, based in Los Gatos, California, as "another political tool with which to aggressively press a pro-intellectual property, anti-video-piracy agenda". The hacktivist group Anonymous (group), Anonymous called for a boycott of Netflix following the news. Netflix spokesperson Joris Evers indicated that the PAC was not set up to support the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), tweeting that the intent was to "engage on issues like network neutrality, net neutrality, bandwidth caps, Usage-based billing, UBB and Video Privacy Protection Act, VPPA".

In June 2012, Netflix signed a deal with Open Road Films.

In July 2012, Netflix hired Kelly Bennett, former Warner Bros. Vice President of Interactive, Worldwide Marketing, to become its chief marketing officer. This also filled a vacancy at Netflix that had been empty for over six months when previous CMO Leslie Kilgore left in January 2012.

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. However, the exclusivity clause ended on September 4, 2012, when Amazon (company), Amazon signed a deal with Epix to distribute its titles via the Amazon Prime Video streaming service. These include films from Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate.

On October 18, 2012, Netflix launched in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

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 (1951 film), Alice in Wonderland'' and ''Pocahontas (1995 film), Pocahontas'' available immediately and others available on Netflix beginning in 2016. Direct-to-video releases were made available in 2013. The agreement with Disney ended in 2019 due to the launch of Disney+. Netflix retains the rights to continue streaming the Marvel series that were produced for the service. Netflix will retain worldwide streaming rights to ''Two Lovers and a Bear'' and ''The Woman in the Window (2021 film), The Woman in the Window'' as Fox and Netflix jointly acquired the US distribution rights to ''Two Lovers and a Bear'', and Netflix acquired worldwide distribution rights to ''The Woman in the Window'' from 20th Century Studios.

On Christmas Eve 2012, Netflix experienced an outage blamed on Amazon Web Services.

On January 14, 2013, Netflix signed an agreement with WarnerMedia, Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Bros. Television to distribute Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation, and Adult Swim content, as well as TNT (American TV network), TNT's ''Dallas (2012 TV series), Dallas'', beginning in March 2013. The rights to these programs, previously held by Amazon Video, were given to Netflix shortly after deals with Viacom (2005–2019), Viacom to stream Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. programs expired. However, Cartoon Network's ratings dropped by 10% in households that had Netflix, and so many of the shows from that channel and Adult Swim were removed in March 2015. Most of these shows were added to Hulu in May 2015.

Development of original programming (2013–2018)

In early 2013, Netflix released the supernatural drama series ''Hemlock Grove (TV series), Hemlock Grove''.

In 2013, the company decided to slow launches in Europe to control subscription costs.

In February 2013, Netflix announced it would be hosting its own awards ceremony, ''The Flixies''.

On March 13, 2013, Netflix added a Facebook 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.

In February 2013, DreamWorks Animation and Netflix co-produced ''Turbo Fast'', based on the movie ''Turbo (film), Turbo'', which premiered in July. Netflix has since become a major distributor of List of Netflix original programming#Kids & family, animated family and kid shows.

In July 2013, ''Orange Is the New Black'' debuted on Netflix, which became Netflix's most-watched original series.

On August 1, 2013, Netflix reintroduced the "Profiles" feature that permits accounts to accommodate up to five user profiles.

In September 2013, Netflix launched in the

Netherlands

and was then available in 40 countries.

In November 2013, Netflix and Marvel Television announced a five-season deal to produce live-action Marvel superhero-focused series: Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist (comics), Iron Fist and Luke Cage. The deal involves the release of four 13-episode seasons that culminate in a mini-series called ''Defenders (comics), The Defenders''. Daredevil (TV series), ''Daredevil'' and Jessica Jones (TV series), ''Jessica Jones'' premiered in 2015. The ''Luke Cage (TV series), Luke Cage'' series premiered on September 30, 2016, followed by ''Iron Fist (TV series), Iron Fist'' on March 17, 2017, and ''The Defenders (miniseries), The Defenders'' on August 18, 2017.

In February 2014, Netflix discovered that Comcast Cable was slowing its traffic down and agreed to pay Comcast to directly connect to the Comcast network.

On March 7, 2014, new ''Star Wars'' content was released on Netflix's streaming service: the sixth and final season of the television series ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series), Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', as well as all five prior and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film), feature film.

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 April 2014, Netflix announced that it would raise the monthly price of the HD subscription plan from US$7.99 to $9.99 for new subscribers, but that existing customers would be grandfathered under this older price until May 2016, after which they could downgrade to the SD-only tier at the same price, or pay the higher fee for continued high definition access. In May 2014, Netflix increased the fee for UK subscribers by £1 per month, with existing members grandfathered at the previous price for two years.

In May 2014, Netflix acquired streaming rights to films produced by Sony Pictures Animation.

In June 2014, Netflix unveiled a global rebranding: a new logo, which uses a modern typeface with the drop shadowing removed, and a new website user interface, UI. The change was controversial; some liked the new minimalist design, whereas others felt more comfortable with the old interface.

On August 22, 2014, the animated sitcom ''BoJack Horseman'' premiered.

In September 2014, Netflix became available in Austria, Belgium,

France

, Germany, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

On September 10, 2014, Netflix participated in Internet Slowdown Day by deliberately slowing down its speed in protest of net neutrality laws.

In October 2014, Netflix announced a four-film deal with Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison Productions.

On December 12, 2014, the historical drama, period drama ''Marco Polo (TV series), Marco Polo'' premiered.

In April 2015, following the launch of ''Daredevil (TV series), Daredevil'', Netflix director of content operations Tracy Wright announced that Netflix had added support for audio description (a narration track with aural descriptions of key visual elements for the blind or visually impaired), 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 screen reader support and the ability to browse content by availability of descriptions.

In September 2015, at the World Maker Faire New York, Netflix revealed a prototype of a device called "The Switch", which allows Netflix users to turn off lights when connected to a smart home light system. It also connects to users' local networks to enable their servers to order takeout, and silence one's phone at the press of a button. Though the device hasn't been patented, Netflix released instructions on its website, on how to build it at home (DIY). The instructions cover both the electrical structure and the programming processes.

In March 2015, Netflix expanded to Australia and New Zealand.

On March 20, 2015, ''Bloodline (TV series), Bloodline'' was released.

In June 2015, the science fiction drama ''Sense8'' debuted, which was written and produced by The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski.

In September 2015, Netflix launched in

Japan

, its first country in Asia.

In October 2015, Netflix launched in Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

On November 6, 2015, ''Master of None'', starring Aziz Ansari, premiered.

Other comedy shows premiering in 2015 included ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'', ''Grace and Frankie'', ''Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp'', and ''W/ Bob & David''.

In January 2016, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, Netflix announced a major international expansion of its service into 130 additional countries. It then had become available worldwide except China,

Syria

,

North Korea

and

Crimea

.

Also in January 2016, Netflix announced it would begin VPN blocking of virtual private networks (VPNs) since they 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, which can however be found on the Unofficial Netflix Online Global Search (uNoGS) website.

In February 2016, ''Orange Is the New Black'' was renewed for a fifth, sixth and seventh season. On June 9, 2017, the fifth season was premiered and the sixth season premiered on July 27, 2018.

In March 2016, Netflix introduced Netflix Party, whereby people can watch Netflix's programs together.

In April 2016, the Netflix series in the List of Marvel Cinematic Universe television series, Marvel Cinematic Universe were expanded further, to include a 13-episode series of ''The Punisher (TV series), The Punisher''.

In April 2016, Netflix announced it would be ending a loyalty rate in certain countries for subscribers who were continuously subscribed before price rises, raising their price to $9.99 per month.

In May 2016, Netflix partnered with Univision to release ''Narcos''.

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, unlike competitors.

In June 2016, George Keritsis, a Netflix subscriber, sued the company over price increases, alleging he was told by a Netflix customer support representative in 2011 that he would pay the same price in perpetuity as long as he maintained his subscription continuously. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case in July 2016.

In July 2016, the science fiction Horror fiction, horror ''Stranger Things'' premiered, music-driven drama ''The Get Down'' premiered in August 2016, British historical drama ''The Crown (TV series), The Crown'' premiered in November 2016, and other premieres in 2016 included comedy shows such as ''Love (TV series), Love'', ''Flaked'', ''Netflix Presents: The Characters'', ''The Ranch'', and ''Lady Dynamite (TV series), Lady Dynamite''.

On September 14, 2016, Netflix and 20th Century Fox jointly acquired US distribution rights to the Canadian independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama film ''Two Lovers and a Bear'' following its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016.

On November 30, 2016, Netflix launched an offline playback feature, allowing users of the Netflix mobile apps on Android (operating system), Android or iOS to Cache (computing), 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 other network or cable channel.

In 2016, Netflix announced plans to expand its in-house production division and produced TV series including ''The Ranch'' and ''Chelsea (TV series), Chelsea''.

In January 2017, Netflix announced that all of Jerry Seinfeld's ''Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'' episodes and season 10 would be on its service.

In February 2017, Netflix announced 1,000 hours of original content to be released in 2017.

In February 2017, Netflix signed a music publisher (popular music), 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.

In March 2017, at Barcelona's World Congress for mobile technologies, Netflix presented CNRS's open source technology creation: a compression tool allowing HD+ video quality with a bandwidth need of under 100 kilobytes per second, 40 times less than that of HDTV needs and compatible with mobile services worldwide. Since 2015, Netflix had received significant technical support from France's CNRS concerning video compression and formating, through CNRS' Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes (LS2N).

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.

As of July 2017, Netflix series and movies accounted for more than a third of all prime-time download Internet traffic in North America.

On August 7, 2017, in the first acquisition of an entire company, Netflix acquired Millarworld, the creator-owned publishing company of comic book writer Mark Millar.

On August 14, 2017, Netflix announced that it had 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 announced that Netflix had agreed to make a Canadian dollar, CDN$500 million (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. There will be a particular focus on films and anime through this investment, with a plan to produce 80 original films and 30 anime series.

In October 2017, Netflix introduced the "Skip Intro" feature which allows customers to skip the intros to shows on its platform. They do so through a variety of techniques including manual reviewing, audio tagging, and machine learning.

In November 2017, Netflix announced that it would be making its first original Colombian series, to be executive produced by Ciro Guerra.

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 the 75th Golden Globe Awards with The Weinstein Company due to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases.

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, seven-figure 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'' from Paramount Pictures for $50 million and launched on its service on February 4, 2018, shortly after airing its first trailer during Super Bowl LII. While the film was critically panned, 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 (film), Annihilation'' and Universal's ''News of the World (film), News of the World'' and worldwide distribution of Universal's ''Extinction (2018 film), Extinction'', Warner Bros.' ''Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle'' and Paramount's ''The Lovebirds (2020 film), The Lovebirds''.

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 April 2018, Netflix pulled out of the Cannes Film Festival, 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.

Expansion into international productions (2018–current)

In May 2018, chief content officer Ted Sarandos stated that Netflix had increased its spending on original content. Besides traditional Hollywood markets as well as from partners like the BBC, 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 (TV series), Dark'' from Germany, ''Ingobernable'' from Mexico and ''3%'' from Brazil.

In May 2018, Hulu signed an exclusive deal with DreamWorks Animation; therefore, Netflix lost access to some content.

On May 22, 2018, former President of the United States, president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama signed a deal to produce docu-series, documentaries and features for Netflix under the Obamas' newly formed production company, Higher Ground Productions. Higher Ground's first film, ''American Factory,'' won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2020.

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. In September 2018, Telltale underwent a "majority studio closure" and laid off nearly its entire staff beyond a skeleton crew of 25 employees, citing a loss of funding. However, the first game, ''Minecraft: Story Mode'', was released in November 2018.

In July 2018, Netflix acquired Lisa Taback's LT-LA consulting firm. Taback became VP of Talent Relations at Netflix.

On August 16, 2018, Netflix announced a three-year deal with ''black-ish'' creator Kenya Barris. Under the deal, Barris will produce new series exclusively at Netflix, writing and executive producing all projects through his production company, Khalabo Ink Society.

On August 27, 2018, the company signed a five-year exclusive overall deal with international best–selling author Harlan Coben. Under the multi-million pact, Netflix will work with Coben to develop 14 existing titles and future projects. On the same day, the company inked an overall deal with ''Gravity Falls'' creator Alex Hirsch.

In October 2018, according to Global Internet Phenomena Report, Netflix consumed 15% of all Internet bandwidth globally, the most by any single application.

In October 2018, Netflix paid under $30 million to acquire Albuquerque Studios (ABQ Studios), a film and TV production facility with eight sound stages in Albuquerque, New Mexico that cost $91 million to build.

In November 2018, Paramount Pictures 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 (film), 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 chronicling the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls season titled ''The Last Dance (miniseries), 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.

In January 2019, Netflix named Spencer Neumann, previously of Activision, as chief financial officer. This led to a lawsuit alleging poaching.

In January 2019, ''Sex Education (TV series), Sex Education'' made its debut as a Netflix original series with much critical acclaim. It was praised for its refreshing take on the teen dramedy genre with honesty, vulnerability, and raunch.

On January 22, 2019, Netflix sought and was approved for membership into the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), as the first streaming service to become a member of the association.

In February 2019, ''The Haunting (TV series), The Haunting'' creator Mike Flanagan (filmmaker), 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.

Also on May 9, 2019, Netflix acquired the ''StoryBots'' children's media franchise to expand its educational content.

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'' creators/showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss reportedly worth US$200 million. Due to their commitments to Netflix, Benioff and Weiss withdrew from an earlier agreement with Disney to write and produce a ''Star Wars'' film series. 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 (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 Stranger Things (season 4), fourth season, Netflix announced signing the series’ creators The Duffer Brothers to a nine-figure deal for additional films and televisions shows over multiple years.

On November 13, 2019, Netflix and Nickelodeon, owned by ViacomCBS, entered into a multi-year content production agreement to produce several original animated feature films and television series based on Nickelodeon's library of characters, in order to compete with Disney+, which had launched the day before. 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. ''Glitch Techs'' was the first series to be released as part of the new agreement. Other new projects planned under the team-up include a music project featuring Squidward Tentacles from the animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', and films based on ''The Loud House'' and ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''.

In December 2019, BBC Earth was removed from Netflix.

In January 2020, Netflix opened an office in Paris with 40 employees.

In January 2020, Netflix announced a new four-film deal with Adam Sandler worth up to $275 million.

In January 2020, Gwyneth Paltrow's series ''The Goop Lab'' was added as a Netflix Original. This led to widespread criticism of the streaming company for giving Paltrow a platform to promote her company Goop (company), Goop, which has been criticized for making unsubstantiated claims about the effectiveness of the health treatments and products it promotes.

On January 20, 2020, Netflix acquired exclusive streaming rights to the film library of Studio Ghibli (with the exception of ''Grave of the Fireflies'') worldwide except in the U.S., Canada, China and Japan as part of an agreement with Ghibli's international seller Wild Bunch (company), Wild Bunch.

On January 24, 2020, Gloria Sanchez Productions entered a multi-year non-exclusive First-look deal with Netflix, and also entered a feature multi-year deal with Paramount Pictures.

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 Ubutaka, 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 from the American Cinematheque to use as a special events venue.

In June 2020, the South African government announced its intention to impose local content requirements on Netflix, including a requirement of having 30% local content. Netflix responded that it would have to cut its library in order to meet such requirements.

In June 2020, Bozoma Saint John was named CMO.

Bloomberg reported in 2019 that Ted Sarandos had risen past CEO Reed Hastings in salary, and that key company decisions were being made in Los Angeles where Sarandos kept his office. 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 Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Duke and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 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 on Netflix titled ''No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention'', which was co-authored by Erin Meyer.

In October 2020, Netflix announced a restructuring of executive management in its entertainment division.

In November 2020, ''The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run'' was released worldwide on Netflix, with the exception of China,

Canada

and the United States.

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.

In March 2021, Netflix warned users against sharing passwords of their account with others.

In March 2021, Netflix announced that it would work to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2022, while investing in programs to preserve or restore ecosystems. The company stated that it would cut emissions from its operations and electricity use by 45% by 2030. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of content production, Netflix had a 14% drop in emissions in 2020.

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 2022, replacing Starz and expanding upon an existing agreement with Sony Pictures Animation. 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, 2021, Netflix announced that it was opening its first Canadian headquarters in

Toronto

. The company also announced that it would open an office in Sweden as well as Rome and Istanbul to increase its original content in those regions.

In June 2021, Netflix announced its first wholly-owned, full-service, post-production facility in Mumbai,

India

, planned to be fully operational by June 2022 with 40 offline editing suites.

On June 7, 2021, Jennifer Lopez'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. Lopez co-runs Nuyorican Productions with her producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.

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 (TV series), The Witcher''.

On June 17, 2021, Netflix announced a multi-year overall deal with comedy writer-producer Danielle Sanchez-Witzel. Under the deal, the first major talent pact since Tracey Pakosta joined Netflix as VP, Original Comedy Series, Sanchez-Witzel will set up her own production banner and focus on original development for series and features in addition to supervising and executive producing other projects.

On June 21, 2021, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners signed a deal with Netflix to release multiple new feature films for the streaming service. Amblin is expected to produce at least two films a year for Netflix for an unspecified number of years.

On June 30, 2021, Powerhouse Animation Studios (the studio behind Netflix's ''Castlevania (TV series), 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 and Facebook, as vice president of game development, along with plans to add video games by 2022.

In July 2021, Netflix announced plans to release mobile gaming, mobile games which would be included in subscribers' plans to the service. 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 (film series), 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; his upcoming projects include a sequel to ''Army of the Dead'', the sci-fi adventure film ''Rebel Moon''. In 2019, he agreed to produce an Anime-influenced animation, anime-style web series inspired by Norse mythology.

As of August 2021, List of Netflix original programming, 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 70 of the streamer's properties, would have its inaugural show in late September 2021. In 2021, Peter Friedlander was named head of the studio.

''Squid Game'', a South Korean survival drama created and produced by Hwang Dong-hyuk, had been acquired and produced by Netflix in 2019 as part of its expansion of foreign works, and was released worldwide in multiple languages on September 17, 2021. The show rapidly became the service's most-watched show within a week of its launch in many markets, 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'' and becoming Netflix's most-watched show.

On September 20, 2021, Netflix signed a long-term lease deal with Aviva Investors to operate and expand the Longcross Studios in Surrey, UK.

On September 21, 2021, Netflix announced that it would acquire the Roald Dahl Story Company, which manages the rights to Roald Dahl's Roald Dahl bibliography, stories and characters, for an undisclosed price and would operate it as an independent company.

On October 13, 2021, Netflix announced the launch of the Netflix Book Club, where readers will hear about new books, films, and series adaptations, as well as have exclusive access to each book's adaptation process. Netflix will partner with Starbucks to bring the book club to life via a social series called ''But Have You Read the Book?''. Uzo Aduba will serve as the inaugural host of the series and announce monthly book selections set to be adapted by the streamer. Aduba will also speak 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 announcement of its quarterly earnings in October 2021, the company stated that they would switch their 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".

On November 16, 2021, Netflix announced the launch of "Top10 on Netflix", a new website with weekly global and country lists of the most popular titles on their service based on their new viewership metrics. On the same date, Netflix announced that it would extend its long-term deal with the Shepperton Studios. The studio's owner Pinewood Group also announced that the studios would expend approximately 1 million square feet of the new production space, with the overall studio set to comprise 17 sound stages. Also on the same day, Netflix inked a deal with the new writers collective company Magic Quill Productions.

On November 22, 2021, Netflix announced that it would acquire Scanline VFX, the visual effects and animation company behind ''Cowboy Bebop (2021 TV series), Cowboy Bebop'' and ''Stranger Things''. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The company will continue to operate as a standalone business and work with a variety of clients. On the same day, Roberto Patino announced he had signed an overall deal with Netflix. under the deal, he has established his own 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 announced that they had partnered with IllumiNative, a woman-led non-profit organization, for the Indigenous Producers Training Program. The program is slated to begin in April 2022.

On December 9, 2021, 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, 2021, 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 their film and television projects.

Launch of Netflix Games

As early as August 2021, Netflix had signaled its intent into providing video games for its subscribers, with a limited test for users within Poland. The company acquired Night School Studio, an independent video game developer, in September 2021. Netflix officially launched this games services on November 2, 2021, for Android users in the United States. Through the app, subscribers had free access to five games, including two previously made ''Stranger Things'' titles. Netflix stated that they intend 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.

Historical financials and membership growth

Awards

On July 18, 2013, Netflix earned the first Primetime Emmy Award nominations for original online-only web television programs at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. Three of its web 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 (House of Cards), Chapter 1" received four nominations for both the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards and 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, becoming the first webisode of a television series to receive a major Primetime Emmy Award nomination: David Fincher was nominated in the category of Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. "Chapter 1" joined ''Arrested Development'' "Flight of the Phoenix (Arrested Development), Flight of the Phoenix" and ''Hemlock Grove'' "Children of the Night" as the first webisodes to earn Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination, and with its win for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, "Chapter 1" became the first webisode to be awarded an Emmy. Fincher's win for Directing for a Drama Series made the episode the first Primetime Emmy-awarded webisode.

On December 12, 2013, the network earned six nominations for Golden Globe Awards, 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 at the 71st Golden Globe Awards on January 12. With the accolade, Wright became the first actress to win a Golden Globe for an online-only web television series. It also marked Netflix' first major acting award. ''House of Cards'' and ''Orange is the New Black'' also won Peabody Awards in 2013.

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 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards, while ''The Crown (TV series), The Crown'' received 13 nominations.

In December 2017, Netflix was awarded People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 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, Netflix won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for the film ''Icarus (2017 film), Icarus.'' 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 and was bought by Netflix for $5 million, one of the biggest deals ever for a non-fiction film. Netflix became the most nominated network at the 2018 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime and 70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Creative Arts Emmy Awards with 112 nominations, therefore breaking HBO's 17-years record as most nominated network at the Emmys, which received 108 nominations.

On January 22, 2019, Netflix scored 15 nominations for the 91st Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture for Alfonso Cuarón's ''Roma (2018 film), Roma'', which was nominated for 10 awards. The 15 nominations equal the total nominations Netflix had received in previous years. Its increased presence in the Academy Awards has led filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg to speak out against the nomination of streaming content. Netflix acquired Grauman's Egyptian Theatre to host events and screen its films and series. However, there are no plans to roll out full theatrical releases there.

In 2020, Netflix received 20 TV nominations and 22 film nominations at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. It secured three out of the five nominations for Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, best drama TV series for ''The Crown (TV series), The Crown'', ''Ozark (TV series), Ozark'' and ''Ratched (TV series), Ratched'' and four of the five nominations for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, best actress in a TV series: Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin, Laura Linney and Sarah Paulson. Netflix received 30 nominations at the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards, more than any other company, where it won 7 awards including best motion picture for ''The Trial of the Chicago 7'' and best TV drama for ''The Crown (TV series), The Crown''.

It also received 35 nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, where it won 7 awards.

Criticism

Netflix has been criticized for showing objectionable content, putting high demands on broadband networks, Academy Awards eligibility for its original content not released first in cinemas, DVD-by-mail throttling, and for inadequate working conditions.

See also

* List of streaming media services
* List of Netflix original programming
* List of ended Netflix original programming
* Lists of Netflix original films
* List of Netflix original stand-up comedy specials
* List of Netflix India originals
* List of Netflix exclusive international distribution programming
* Technical details of Netflix
* List of Netflix-compatible devices

References

Further reading

*
*

External links

*

{{Authority control

Netflix,
1997 establishments in California
2002 initial public offerings
American brands
American companies established in 1997
American film studios
Android (operating system) software
Companies based in Santa Clara County, California
Companies based in Silicon Valley
Companies in the NASDAQ-100
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Entertainment companies established in 1997
Internet properties established in 1997
Internet television streaming services
IOS software
Los Gatos, California
Mass media companies established in 1997
Online retailers of the United States
PlayStation 3 software
PlayStation 4 software
Recommender systems
Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Software companies of the United States
Subscription video on demand services
Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
TvOS software
Universal Windows Platform apps
Video rental services
Xbox 360 software
Xbox One software