Netflix figures make interesting viewing

The latest subscriber figures from Netflix blamed the price hike of $1 to $8.99 (€7) a month for its lower than expected number of new sign-ups in the third quarter of the year.

It lured 3.02 million new streaming customers globally, versus the 3.69 million it had projected in July. When the figures were released last week, the share price tumbled.

Still, the figures are huge. In the US – Netflix’s largest subscriber base – it had 36.3 million paid subscribers by the end of the third quarter. The company does not release individual market figures so it is not publicly known how many Irish screen watchers have signed up the service.

Indeed, metrics about Netflix use are hard to come by, which makes research last week by US data measurement company ComScore interesting reading, with insights that are probably replicated in other Netflix markets.

ComScore found that Netflix subscribers are more likely to binge-watch than other viewers and they prefer to binge on their TV screens, rather than on tablets or smartphones.

Households with children are more likely to have a Netflix subscription: the service reached 25 per cent of households with one to two people, and 40 per cent of households with more than three. Of those surveyed, 32 per cent subscribed to Netflix, more than to any to other streaming service (the survey was done in the US, where there are several options). Among millennials (18 to 33 year olds), it was closer to 50 per cent.

The next big date on the Netflix calendar is December 12th with the broadcast of Marco Polo, an epic 10-part series about the explorer's days in the court of Kublai Khan.

Produced by the Weinstein Company and filmed in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, it stars Lorenzo Richelmy in the title role.