In a rather interesting paradox of old and new television distribution models, Netflix says it broke its record for most streamed hours in one day, despite the recent Game of Thrones finale premiering on the same day.
In its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, the streaming giant said the launch of its original series Orange Is The New Black inspired the record setting day on Sunday June 11.
The popular drama, set in a women’s prison, premiered its third season on June 11, with viewers apparently waiting until the Sunday to binge view.
The letter to shareholders (via Engadget) said: “We closed the quarter with season 3 of Orange is the New Black which went live on June 11.
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Netflix says almost 90 per cent of its subscribers have now engaged with the company’s original content, which it says affirms the company is ‘on the right path’ by continuing to invest in its own content.
The firm says it plans to expand the first run content on offer, while it recently announced its first original movies will start streaming from October 2015.
“We anticipate that as our global content spend approaches $5 billion in
2016. We will devote more investment to originals both in absolute
dollars and percentage terms. This includes not only series,
documentaries and stand-up but also original feature films,” the company said.
Read more: Netflix vs Amazon Prime Instant Video
Elsewhere during the earnings call, Netflix announced it now has 65 million paying subscribers worldwide, up 3.3 million from the previous quarter. However, only 0.9m of those new subscribers came in the firm’s US homeland.
The company has had things largely its own way in recent years, but is facing more competition with the likes of Showtime and HBO launching standalone monthly streaming options in the United States.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.