In the next latest earnings reports from Netflix this week, we find that the company’s new user base considerably outperformed January guidance suggesting 7 million new users would be added.
Company leaders reported 15.7 million new users instead. Some of this explosion of user trends has to do with the specific shows that are causing viral excitement these days: for example, the “Tiger King” series with its big cats, strange characters and plot twists has garnered Netflix 64 million views on its own.
We know that COVID-19 is changing the global economy in fundamental ways. But the Netflix numbers are a concrete indicator of just how much streaming video is booming.
On the production end, though, logistics around the virus have caused considerable delay.
“Content production has essentially ground to a halt,” writes Joan Solsman at CNet, explaining that almost all filming has been delayed. “The company has been able to move more than 200 projects in post-production to be continued remotely. And some of its production teams can produce new work remotely as well. Within two weeks of the shelter-in-place orders in Los Angeles, most of Netflix’s animation production team was back up and running, working from home.”
Here and in other parts of the streaming media world, certain kinds of content have become disproportionately popular. Over at YouTube, insiders are reporting a big spike in children’s content and legitimate news, with “home school” becoming a top keyword search.
“To steer people toward credible information, the company says it has been proactive,” reports Richard Nieva in the course of covering this phenomena. “YouTube reached out to the team of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to set up videos with prominent creators on the platform, including Phil DeFranco, Doctor Mike and Lilly Singh. The videos have tallied around 30 million views collectively. YouTube has also tried to highlight educational content for kids stuck in quarantine. Last month, the company launched a hub called Learn@Home for parents to find education videos. The company says queries of ‘home school’ on YouTube have doubled since March 13.”
