The popularity of Netflix is exploding, thanks in part to a cheap monthly subscription rate and an ever expanding selection of original content. With each passing quarter, Netflix’s subscriber base expands considerably. During the first three months of 2015 alone, Netflix added 4.9 million new subscribers, finishing the quarter with an impressive 62.3 million members.
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Underscoring Netflix’s ascension, a research report from analysts at FBR Capital Markets relays that Netflix’s audience will soon surpass the total viewership of broadcast channels from the likes of NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX. Specifically, analyst Barton Crockett articulates that the 10 billion hours of content streamed via Netflix is about the same as having a 24-hour Nielsen rating of 2.6, a figure which puts the service on the same level as ABC and NBC.
While ratings at broadcasters are falling on average, Netflix is growing its ratings at a 40%-plus compound annual rate, Crockett tells investors this morning in a research note. At this pace, Netflix in a year will have a larger 24-hour audience than all broadcast networks, he contends.
This all bodes well for Netflix, but the streaming service has no plans to rest on its laurels. On the contrary, the company has become even more agressive about securing exclusive content. Just this month we noted that Netflix shelled out a whopping $60 million for the exclusive rights to the Brad Pitt film War Machine. Netflix also doled out a reported $500,000 per episode for the exclusive streaming rights to Friends, a figure which would up costing the company approximately $118 million.
