The market value of Netflix had exceeded $153 billion, where it overtook Disney as the “most valuable company” in the media. Its market share NFLX was higher on Thursday than the market shares of Disney (DIS) and Comcast (CMCSA) respectively. Disney was able to regain the crown right before the market close, thus leaving Netflix in second place, ahead of Comcast.
Cord-cutters and chilling
It was reported that Comcast, the largest cable company in America, has been losing its video subscribers, especially since consumers had “cut the cord,” and subsequently moved to streaming services, such as Netflix.
One year earlier, Comcast had 22.6 million paid TV subscribers, but in the first quarter of 2018, that number slightly went down to $22.3 million subscribers. At the same time, Netflix has been gaining streaming users exponentially, since it added over seven million paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2018, thus proving that it is a true force to be reckoned with in the entertainment business.
Two boats in a vast ocean of media
It bears to mention that Netflix and Comcast both have completely different businesses. Comcast is the owner of a broadband company, NBC, Dreamworks, as well as cable. Comcast is trying to bid on Fox’s movie and television studios and cable networks, and even at Hulu — Netflix’s main competitor.
The success of the streaming service Netflix is attributed to the fact that the original shows on the platform, such as Orange is the New Black, The Crown, 13 Reasons Why and Stranger Things, have earned them countless new viewers. In addition, the majority of Netflix’ expansion and growth is derived from international expansion.
Prior to this week, Netflix had already surpassed most of the other traditional media companies such as Time Warner (TWX), Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox (FOXA), CBS and Viacom (VIAB). The streaming service is getting closer to AT&T and Verizon, where both of these two companies are worth approximately $200 billion.
