Ever since Netflix was founded in 1997, it has been continually cementing itself as one of the most influential video companies. When video rental stores such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were at their peak, Netflix seemingly came out of nowhere, marking the beginning of the future of streaming. They started out as a rental company that sent people DVDs in the mail as opposed to having to make a trip to the store.

Netflix is now worth $220 billion and video stores as we know barely exist anymore. On Tuesday, Netflix has crossed yet again a major milestone, surpassing 200 million subscribers globally. During the fourth quarter of 2020, Netflix gained 8.5 million subscribers, totalling their profit at $542 million. In 2020 alone, the company brought in 37 million new subscribers, which is a 31% jump from the 2019. According to CNN Business, this jump in subscribers could be due to the Covid-19 Pandemic: “2020 was an incredibly difficult year with extraordinary loss for so many families, new restrictions that none of us have ever had to live with before and great uncertainty.

We’re enormously grateful that in these uniquely challenging times we’ve been able to provide our members around the world with a source of escape, connection and joy while continuing to build our business”. 2020 was an important year for many streaming services, including new services such as Peacock and Discovery+, and many should be thanking Netflix for beginning it all.