Here’s Netflix’s quarterly viewership data for some of its popular shows:
Taking the March quarter expansion into account, the company had 182.86 million paid members globally at the end of the quarter, representing a 22.8 percent annual increase versus 174.09 million in the year-ago quarter, according toNetflix’s earnings released Monday.
The growth is only temporary, however — Netflix’sletter to shareholdersnotes it expects viewership to continue growing, but cautioned that the trend could reverse after the coronavirus situation improves and the social distancing measures get relaxed.
Like other home entertainment services, we’re seeing temporarily higher viewing and increased membership growth. We expect viewing to decline and membership growth to decelerate as home confinement ends, which we hope is soon.
With more viewers come greater responsibilities — Netflix experienced significant disruption when it comes to customer support so they had to hire another 2,000 agents who are all working remotely. Content production is also suffering as Hollywood largely stopped filming new shows and movies because of the coronavirus epidemic.
When it comes to production, almost all filming has now been stopped globally, with the exception of a few countries like Korea and Iceland. This has been devastating for millions of workers in the TV and film industry – electricians, hair and make-up artists, carpenters and drivers who are often paid hourly wages and work project-to-project.
Apple does not report viewership data for its Apple TV+ video service, but some estimates have pegged its user base atbetween 30 million and 40 million.
