Netflix subscribers streamed a massive 1 billion hours of video content in June, a record for the site, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings announced on his Facebook page earlier this month.
Hastings credited Ted Sarandos, the company’s chief content officer, for the jump in streaming, and expects even larger demand with a number of in-house programs the company will produce, including House of Cards and Arrested Development.
“Congrats to Ted Sarandos, and his amazing content licensing team. Netflix monthly viewing exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time ever in June,” Hastings railed on his Facebook page. “When House of Cards and Arrested Development debut, we’ll blow these records away. Keep going, Ted, we need even more!”
As a result of the news, the company’s stock jumped 20 percent, moving back above $80 for the first time since last May.
It’s quite a turnaround since last fall, when the company announced a near fatal plan to spin its DVD rental business into a new entity named Qwikster, resulting in a loss of nearly 800,000 subscribers and a 60 percent drop in stock since its subscription increase the previous summer. Netflix quickly backpedaled and kept both streaming and DVD services under the Netflix brand.
Still, Netflix’s stock still has a long ways to recover to its $120 price before the Qwikster drop off, but the growing popularity of its streaming service is a step in the right direction. The company recently topped Apple for the streaming of movie content, thanks to a 44 percent increase in viewer streaming over the past year.