Netflix to exceed 100 mn global subscribers over the weekend

Netflix subscriber base was set to exceed 100 million global subscribers soon. According to commentators, this showed the impact of the video streaming service on the entertainment landscape since it debuted a decade ago.

The company was expected to hit the milestone this weekend. The prediction had been made yesterday by the company with the release of its first-quarter earnings.

After registering around 5 million subscribers in  the first three months of the year, Netflix was expected to end March with 98.7 million customers in roughly 190 countries.

Over the past decade, "what really did it for Netflix was the explosion of phones and tablets that allowed people to watch video everywhere," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. "But Netflix clearly had a vision before those devices became so ubiquitous."

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings expected the next 100 million subscribers to come more quickly than the first 100 million.

"Everybody watches TV and nearly everybody has the internet, so I don't see anything that's going to stop Netflix from getting to most people in the United States and then eventually hopefully most people around the world," Hastings said, The Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that analysts had predicted that Netflix would add 5.49 million new users in the first quarter. The actual figure came in at 4.95 million additional subscribers.

Until recently, Netflix had competition in the US only from Hulu, owned by major media companies like Disney, Comcast and Time Warner. However, Netflix was focused more on films and original content as it lost out on deals with the major studios. Hulu had however lost out on its quality filmmaking appeal after its deal with the Criterion Collection expired.

Criterion Collection had decided to start its own streaming company with Turner Classic Movies, Filmstruck.