Netflix

Netflix is an American entertainment company offering subscription-based streaming video-on-demand and DVD-by-mail services. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, the company started out as an online competitor to video rental chains such as Blockbuster, offering customers the opportunity to order and rent DVDs over the Internet without charging any late fees. With broadband penetration and Internet use rising steadily in the United States throughout the 2000s, Netflix widened its business model to also include streaming video in 2007. Since then, the company has continually developed its streaming video offerings, first by expanding into international markets, beginning with Canada in 2010, and then by making available “Netflix Originals,” media content commissioned by and debuting on Netflix’s streaming platform, from 2012 onward. Although the ...