Netflix misses subs targets

Netflix missed its subscriber targets for the first three months of 2017 but is still set to reach the 100 million customers mark over the next week.

Reed Hastings

The US-based streamer added 1.42 million US subscribers and 3.53 million internationally during the period, down on its projections of 1.5 million and 3.7 million respectively.

However, the company said it had 98.75 million subscribers globally at the end of March and expected to cross the 100 million mark this weekend.

It added that its marketing spend would be ramped up, with more that US$1bn alone being spent on advertising its content. Last year the firm spent a similar amount on marketing across its entire operation.

Netflix chief Reed Hastings admitted, however, to having “YouTube envy” and said that while the streamer’s viewing “is very large and growing,” it was “nowhere near as big” as the Google-owned service.

The extra marketing spend, he added, would be used to “drive member acquisition” by drawing attention to original content such as royal family epic The Crown.

Netflix also confirmed that it would not be looking to acquire sports rights – unlike rival Amazon, which agreed a deal to live-stream NFL matches earlier this month.

In related news, Netflix has picked up the first two seasons of kids’ animated TV comedy Oddbods. The show, which follows the antics of seven characters as they play pranks on one another, is from Singapore’s One Animation.