Gone are those days when you would have to spend your pocket money on buying DVDs to watch your favourite films. This is the 21st century and in this age of technology, whether it is for watching a popular film or your favourite web shows, you know where to reach—Netflix, of course! With new films, documentaries and shows being added on a daily basis, Netflix is the most popular streaming platform in the world. Today, we bring you some interesting facts about Netflix which may surprise you.
Fun facts about Netflix
1) Though Netflix started renting out DVDs only from 1998, it was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. This makes Netflix a year older than Google.
2) Netflix was originally called Kibble. Kibble was the name of Netflix’s co founder Marc Randolph’s dog. This name was to remind everyone, “No matter how good the advertising, it’s not a success if the dogs don’t eat the dog food.”
3) House of Cards was not the first original content produced by Netflix. Netflix made a test video called Example Show in 2010. In this 11 minute long test video, you can find pretty inane content like an actor moonwalking with a laptop and reciting a monologue from Julius Caesar. You can still watch it on Netflix.
4) As of October 2018, Netflix accounts for 15 % of the world’s web traffic and approximately 36.5 % of North America’s web traffic. If Netflix did not compress its videos, this number would have been three times higher. YouTube, which is also a streaming platform, accounts for 11.4 % percent of the web traffic.
5) In 2013, Netflix hosted an award show of its own and aptly titled it “The Flixies.” It allowed users to vote for their favourite films and shows under various categories.
6) Orange Is The New Black, 13 Reasons Why, The Crown, House Of Cards and Stranger Things are some of the most watched Netflix original series.
7) Netflix is available in more than 190 countries, from Australia and Europe to most parts of Asia. However, it is most popular in the U.S.
8) As of January 2019, Netflix has around 139 million paying subscribers. More than 58 millions of these subscribers are U.S. based.
9) In 2014, a glitch caused the summaries of various titles to merge, creating completely hilarious and ridiculous summaries. One summary which appeared to combine the Power Rangers installments with Inglourious Basterds read, “The Samurai Rangers get stuck in the Megazord’s cockpit on Christmas Even when it breaks down. Can the Rangers get out and assassinate Adolf Hitler?”
10) Netflix was instrumental in coining the word “binge watch,” when it started to release its series’ episodes all at once.
Which of these facts about Netflix surprised you the most? Comment and let us know.