Netflix is putting five percent of its cash budget into films

Now that Amazon is offering a monthly video subscription and Netflix’s delayed price hike is kicking in, how are things going for the video streaming king? According to its just-released Q1 2016 earnings report (PDF): Pretty well. Netflix beat its own estimates by growing to 81.5 million customers worldwide (with nearly 47 million of them in the US), while releasing a new original series or film every week. Expect more of those films too, as Reed Hastings confirmed Netflix will release Bright in 2017 starring Will Smith, after debuts this year that include Brad Pitt’s War Machine and Mascots with Christopher Guest. The company “will invest 5 percent of our cash budget in original films,” and is also getting ready to launch its 3-nights-per-week talk show with Chelsea Handler.

As far as its “un-grandfathering” process that will see over half of its US customers greeted with a price hike, Hastings said the old pricing will be phased out gradually. Interestingly, longtime customers will apparently hang onto their current $8 or $9 plans for the longest, before eventually seeing a dialogue box presenting the new price (and, presumably, a crying MJ meme) and asking them to opt-in, just like everyone else.

Developing…

Source: Netflix Q1 2016 (PDF)