Photo by Eric Liebowitz courtesy of Netflix
Tituss Burgess and Ellie Kemper in Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
To start, the video streaming behemoth dropped more than a dozen new, original shows. Like these gems:
- The delightful "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"
- Marvel's gripping "Jessica Jones"
- Aziz Ansari's hilarious "Master of None"
- To say nothing of "Bloodline," "Narcos," "Grace and Frankie," and amazing documentary series like "Chef's Table" and "Making a Murderer."
- Netflix premiered its first original film in 2015: "Beasts of No Nation," which was released on Netflix and in theaters at the same time (it's currently generating Oscar buzz).
Netflix
A scene from "Beasts of No Nation," featuring acclaimed actor Idris Elba.
Beyond producing and licensing great stuff to watch, the company was busy growing in other ways:
- The service expanded to quite a few new countries (Japan, Spain, Italy, Cuba, Australia, New Zealand, and more).
- Netflix earned 34 Emmy nominations, nine Golden Globe nominations, and one Oscar nomination.
- And we can't forget - the company even became a verb this year with the spread of "Netflix and chill."
Netflix's success this year comes amidst a massive shift in the way that people watch TV. An increasing number of people are choosing to "cut the cord" and give up satellite or cable, instead getting their TV from streaming services like Netflix, HBO Now, Hulu, and more.
The strongest evidence of this shift comes from hard numbers: Netflix's stock is up a whopping 138% so far this year, while its aging media competition (like CBS, Time Warner, and Viacom) are all down anywhere from 15% to 45%.
Let's stop and reflect on that for a moment: Netflix is growing tremendously while the established media titans are near-universally down. The one exception comes from Disney, which is up around 14% - it owns ESPN and ABC, and, uh, maybe you've heard of this new "Star Wars" movie?
Star Wars/Facebook
A scene from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
According to the research firm eMarketer, there are currently 4.9 million homes in the US that used to pay for TV but no longer do, and the firm says that number will jump more than 12% next year. This isn't a trend that's slowing down anytime soon.
2015 was good for Netflix and for subscribers, and 2016 could be even better. The company says it will expand worldwide by the end of next year, becoming available in 200 countries.
And Ted Sarandos, Netflix's head of content, recently said that the company plans to double its output of original shows next year.
2016 will almost certainly be another huge year for Netflix.