Netflix attributed a huge 45% spike in fourth-quarter profit Monday to the popularity of its online streaming video service, reports the Los Angeles Times. The company said it had added 718,000 subscribers since September, bringing its total subscriber base to around 9.4 million.
“It’s very clear that streaming is energizing our growth,” Reed Hastings, Netflix’s CEO, said on a call today with analysts. The streaming business was driven by links to LG Electronics, Samsung and Microsoft devices that allow Netflix subscribers to view movies via the company’s “Watch Instantly” service which offers about 12,000 TV shows and movies.
“We plan to spend as much money as we can with the studios, licensing as much content as we can — and we are already one of the studios’ largest Internet revenue sources,” Hastings said. “Our spending is limited only by what content is available at reasonable costs.”
Netflix has had continued success despite the rise of online services like Hulu — which allow viewers to watch TV shows and movies for free as a result of advertising revenue.