Nasser Al Sarami

Al-Jazirah newspaper NETFLIX is an American entertainment company founded by Red Hastings and Mark Randolph in 1997. It specializes in providing video on demand services and delivery of DVDs by mail. A year after the company was founded, it decided to stop sales of DVDs to focus on renting them to customers by mail. In 2007, the company expanded its business by offering an online broadcast service, while keeping its DVD rental service. The company expanded globally to serve Canada in 2010 and continues to expand its services globally, including in the Middle East. In 2010, Netflix reached a five-year deal worth nearly $1 billion to bring movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to the Netflix library. In 2013, Netflix entered content creation by releasing its first and hugely popular TV series “House of Cards.” The number of original programs produced by Netflix increased to include films, serials, documentaries and stand-up comedy shows. In 2016, the network released 126 original series and films, making it superior to any television network. The company operates around the world in more than 190 countries and recently launched a feature where people can download videos to watch at times when they don’t have an internet connection. In January 2017 Netflix announced an increase in subscribers that reached 93 million worldwide. Netflix attracted a record number of new subscribers at the end of 2017, these results helped raise the value of Netflix on Wall Street by more than 10 percent, surpassing the company’s record $100 billion worth. It increased its business by 33 percent while profits increased three-fold. Today, the American company has about 117 million subscribers. It also revealed an increase in the number of users by 8.33 million users in the fourth quarter, equivalent to half the increase of the largest media companies annually. Netflix expects its business to be around $3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2018. The results have enticed large companies to join Netflix’s paradigm, which could threaten their growth and their power. However, the group’s director Red Hastings said: The growing competition in the sector does not threaten Netflix.” Large c companies such as Apple, Disney and Amazon have their own plans to enter the streaming business and challenge Netflix’s dominance. This short history, these massive numbers and the entry of giant corporations into the foray are backed by hundreds of billions of dollars. With the Netflix model outperforming some cable broadcasting companies and even free satellite broadcasting, the present and future is with the most successful digital model on demand.