SAN FRANCISCO (CelebrityAccess) — Netflix reported record third quarter earnings on Oct 17th, posting revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, up 36% over the same period last year. The company also announced the addition of 3.6 million new subscribers, handily beating their earlier projections fo the quarter of 2.3 million.
The company attributed their Q3 financial results to its successful forays into original content, led by series such as Stranger Things and the second season of Narcos. Netflix said that it plans to create 1,000 hours of original content in 2017, nearly doubling the 600 hours of new programming it made this year.
"Our over-performance against forecast (86.7m total streaming members vs. forecast of 85.5m) was driven primarily by stronger than expected [customer] acquisition due to excitement around Netflix original content," the company wrote in a letter to investors. "Stranger Things is also notable as it is produced and owned by Netflix, which provides us with more attractive economics and greater business and creative control."
The shift to original content was inevitable for Netflix and likely a response to their shrinking library of licensed content from other studios and producers. An analysis by AllFlicks earlier this year showed that Netflix library of content had declined from more than 8,000 at the start of 2014 to just 5,532 titles at the end of March 2016.
Netflix has expanded in other areas, however, including their international footprint. The service is now available in 22 different languages and 130 countries, including localization into Turkey and Poland during Q3, however, an anticipated expansion into China seems to be off the table for now, noting regulatory challenges in the market. Instead, the company said it plans to pursue a licensing deal with an existing service already operating in the market.
