Britannica Money (2024)

Netflix, Inc. is a media company based in Los Gatos, California, that was founded in 1997 by American entrepreneurs Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. The service is best known for allowing users to stream movies and television shows on a single platform; the company also releases its own works, many of which have been nominated for awards. Netflix initially gained popularity when it disrupted the Blockbuster video-rental model. The service has since challenged video streaming and cable companies, then content creators, and, as of 2023, broadcasters.

1997–2006: Video rental

Netflix was launched in 1997 as a DVD-rental service that charged a per-rental fee. The website was initially launched in 1998 as “NetFlix.com.” With tens of thousands of titles available, subscribers could select movies and TV shows through the website and receive the discs by mail. In 1999 Netflix offered an online subscription service; by 2000 this included flat-fee unlimited rentals with no due dates, late fees, or shipping fees.

In 2000 the company introduced a personalized movie recommendation system, which used an algorithm to predict an individual’s movie preferences based on their previous choices. The system was improved after the Netflix Prize contest in 2006 challenged 40,000 contestants to improve the accuracy of movie recommendations by 10 percent. The $1 million prize was awarded in 2009 to BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos, a team made up of seven mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers from the United States, Canada, Austria, and Israel.

2007–12: Streaming

In 2007 Netflix introduced streaming services that allowed subscribers to access content directly over the Internet. Streaming quickly gained momentum, becoming unlimited for most subscription plans. Netflix partnered with makers of video game consoles, Blu-ray players, and other electronics to enable video streaming on those devices. Netflix introduced a streaming-only plan by 2010 and that same year introduced an app for iPhones (the app became available on some Android devices by 2011). The company initiated its global expansion to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe by 2012, reaching more than 190 countries and territories by 2016.

2013–20s: Original content

As streaming became its primary revenue generator, Netflix shifted its focus to producing original content in 2013. By 2023 Netflix boasted more than 3,600 original titles.

In 2022 Netflix announced plans to begin cracking down on password sharing, noting that more than 100 million households had shared their account passwords with others. The crackdown was credited with boosting subscriber rates, with Netflix reporting that it had added 8.8 million subscribers worldwide in the third quarter of 2023. The company also said it would raise prices on its streaming services, confident that users would be willing to pay more to access the company’s broad collection of original shows and movies.

2023–present: Live programming

In 2023 Netflix began livestreaming with its stand-up special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. In January 2024 Netflix said it had inked a 10-year deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to stream a weekly live professional wrestling program, Monday Night Raw, beginning in 2025. In March 2024 the company announced it would livestream a fight between boxers Mike Tyson and Jake Paul in July.

Award-winning original content

Notable Netflix series include:

• House of Cards (2013–18), an episodic drama series that won multiple awards, including 3 Primetime Emmy Awards in its first season
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–19), a comedy about a woman rescued from a doomsday cult
• Narcos (2015–17), about drug trafficker Pablo Escobar and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents hunting him, one of whom was played by Pedro Pascal
• The Crown (2016–23), a drama about the British royal family that won more than 100 international awards, including 5 Critics Choice Awards, 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, 2 Golden Globes, and 7 Screen Actors Guild Awards
• Stranger Things (2016– ), a sci-fi drama set in the 1980s that has won more than 100 international awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award
• Money Heist (2017–21), a Spanish crime drama
• Bridgerton (2020– ), an adaptation of a romance novel series set in 19th-century London
• Squid Game (2021– ), a South Korean show centered on a bloody survival game; it has won more than 40 international awards, including a People’s Choice Award

Notable Netflix movies include:

• Roma (2018), which won 3 Academy Awards, including best foreign language film
• The Irishman (2019), which was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture
• Marriage Story (2019), for which Laura Dern won an Academy Award for best supporting actress
• The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), which was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including best picture
• All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), which won 4 Academy Awards

Netflix has had great success from its unique marketing approaches. For example, Squid Game’s popularity led to the creation of the reality television competition series Squid Game: The Challenge (2023), which is also available on Netflix. The streaming platform has planned live events commemorating its shows; for example, Bridgerton was adapted into a live traveling experience (The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience) in 2022.

In January 2024 Netflix programs received 19 Oscar nominations but took home only 1 award—for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, a short film directed by Wes Anderson—at the Academy Awards held in March. Among its other nominees were May December, The After, and El Conde.