Several million people have thrown a coin at their warlock, according to Netflix's fourth-quarter earnings report that just came out on Tuesday, January 21. According to a letter sent by the streaming service to shareholders, some 76 million subscribers watched the first season of the show, making it one of the most popular first seasons for the company. and potentially the largest program in the service. The numbers are pretty staggering and put the show ahead of some of the biggest shows of the decade, like Game of Thrones, which had more than 19 million people watching its last episode. The problem here is that the numbers are tabulated according to Netflix's revised viewing system that has two minutes of viewing time, which Netflix calls "an intentional choice" & # 39; & # 39; - the same as watching 70% of an episode under their old measurement system, and very different from the metrics Nielsen uses to measure shows like Game of Thrones. That said, no matter which system you use, the fact that 76 million subscribers have chosen to watch the series (even for two minutes) with Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia is still pretty impressive. That's more subscribers than its US competitor Hulu, and seven times the number of Disney Plus subscribers two months ago.
Slow growth in the United States, but big business abroad
Of course, The Witcher wasn't the only new show last month. In the same file, Netflix says The Crown garnered a total of 73 million viewers after its season debut, and 6 Underground, a new movie from director Michael Bay and starring Ryan Reynolds, had 83 million members. The last bit seems pretty iffy, but again, viewers only had to watch it for over two minutes for it to count. The rest of the letter to Netflix shareholders isn't all that interesting, but there were some notable statistics that deserve to be reported. For starters, Netflix reports that it generated €20 billion in revenue in 2019 and says it has surpassed 100 million paid memberships outside of the US, where it now has almost 70 million subscribers. Netflix says it will use the money generated to investing in new forms of content, holding up Black Mirror Bandersnatch as an example of how it can 'increase engagement and our capacity for storytelling'; ##; in addition to previously announced titles such as BoJack Horseman Season 39, Locke and Key, and Ozark Season 6. Tech-wise, Netflix has touted its unique mobile plans that it has rolled out in Malaysia, Indonesia, and India, which it says will bring to more countries. in the course of the year. 3, year to come.