Categories: Tech & Society

Netflix Announces Q1 2013 Revenue of Over $1 Billion, Adds 3 Million Users

Today Netflix reported its first quarter financial performance, with revenue of $1 billion and earnings per share of $0.05. Analysts had expected revenues of $1 billion, and earnings per share of $0.20.

Reed Hastings’s shareholder letter is filled with interesting nuggets. Here are some of them:

  • As predicted, Hastings doesn’t offer any real numbers for “House of Cards,” the company’s much-hyped foray into original productions. But he does take credit for building big buzz with “House of Cards” via its decision to release all 13 episodes at once. If Netflix had followed a standard release schedule, you’d be watching the last episode of the series this week, and presumably more people you know would be talking about the show right now. But Hastings says the big bang worked just fine: It ended up “reinforcing our brand attribute of giving consumers complete control over how and when they enjoy their entertainment.”
  • Hastings also says that almost no one signed up — for free, for a month-long trial — to watch the show and then left Netflix afterward. “There was very little free-trial gaming — less than 8,000 people did this, out of millions of free trials in the quarter.”
  • Those less-than-stellar reviews for “Hemlock Grove,” the new horror show Netflix put out this month? No biggie: “Hemlock Grove” was viewed by more members globally in its first weekend than was “House of Cards” and has been a particular hit among young adults.
  • Though Netflix is paying up for originals and certain stuff it values a lot, like its recent Disney deal, it is going to stop buying other stuff from the networks, especially when other people can get the same stuff. For instance: Hastings says the company will let a “broad” deal for Viacom content lapse in May, but that the two companies may negotiate licenses for specific shows. (Translation to parents: May want to have your kids binge on Dora and Diego right now).
  • Here’s what Viacom has to say about that, by the way: “We continue to be in discussion with several parties, including Netflix, on distribution of our content.”
  • Speaking of kids: You may at long last stop seeing Dora show up next to Kevin Spacey in your Netflix history: The company says it will finally start rolling out a “profiles” feature “in the coming months” that will let different family members track their own viewing habits and make specific recommendations.
  • And along those lines, Netflix will offer a family pricing plan for people who want to run multiple Netflix streams at the same time: “A few members with large families run into our 2-simultaneous-stream limit. To best serve these members, we’re shortly adding a 4-stream plan, at $11.99 in the U.S., and we expect fewer than 1% of members to take it.”

Via: All Things D

Team TechPanda

Recent Posts

Indian gaming shifts from audience to creator “given India’s mobile-first gaming capabilities”

The Indian gaming industry is sitting on an industry explosion in the near future as…

14 hours ago

Transforming modern business operations: How Microsoft 365’s AI Integration is automating HR workflows & enhancing employee experiences

In today's fast-paced business world, when employee fulfillment and efficiency are crucial, technology has become…

16 hours ago

Outbound & inbound: India attracts businesses from UK, China & US while expanding to Middle East

The Tech Panda takes a look at how India has been attracting foreign businesses from…

2 days ago

UPI value & volume surpass records in March

India’s digital payments ecosystem achieved a record high in March, with UPI transactions reaching INR24.77…

2 days ago

AI-powered digital twins, Cobots, agentic AI, physical AI & edge computing are enabling an anticipatory AI-first manufacturing ecosystem

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), ), a leader in IT services, consulting, and business…

2 days ago

Misinformation & deepfakes help weaponize AI: Should AI be as open as the internet then?

The ability for AI to spread misinformation has been reaching hair-raising lengths, another and possibly…

4 days ago