Netflix hits 1m users in UK and Ireland – faster than Facebook or Twitter

20 Aug 2012

Pictured: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

Netflix has promised to invest heavily in bringing new content to its UK and Ireland userbase after it hit the 1m user milestone within seven months – that’s faster than any other territory it has launched. This will bring the on-demand movie and TV provider into closer competition with TV rivals Sky, Virgin and UPC.

This is four times faster than it took Twitter to reach 1m user globally and nearly twice as fast as it took Facebook and Foursquare globally.

Netflix didn’t elaborate on what proportion of the 1m users were British or Irish.

The company promised to beef up its library and said that a number of new TV shows and movies are coming soon including sentimental buddy comedy “50/50”, and blockbusters “2012” and “Iron Man 2.”

Members can also look forward to the next seasons of “Breaking Bad” and “Damages” on Netflix.

“This membership milestone is evidence that Netflix has rapidly gained popularity in the Ireland and the UK,” said Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings.

“Our British and Irish members clearly enjoy the ability to instantly watch a large variety of TV shows and films streaming from Netflix on their favourite devices whenever they want.”

On demand consumer trends

Consumers are spending more time enjoying entertainment online, according to a survey by YouGov for Netflix. Ten percent of the population now dedicates two hours or more of their day to watching their favourite TV show delivered through the Internet.

Around 48pc are watching their favourite tv and movies via the internet in bed, 36pc watch in between doing chores and 30pc watch while eating a meal.

On Netflix, comedy and drama are the top genre choices among UK and Irish members, whose favourite time of the week to enjoy their streaming entertainment is on a Sunday night.

Netflix is available on over 800 devices.  Research shows that consumers in the UK and Ireland spend over €700 a year on new electronic gear, according to YouGov, meaning that it is likely that any given household has at least one device that can stream TV shows and films from Netflix. 
 

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com