Netflix still ships a million discs each week.
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It’s no secret that the major focus of the home entertainment business is streaming, but many may be surprised to learn that people still rent DVDs and Blu-ray discs. So much so that Netflix shipped its 5 billionth disc this week.
The company, which ships a million discs each week, announced the milestone in a tweet Monday.
“The most heartfelt thank you to our incredible members that have been with us for the past 21 years of DVD Netflix,” Netflix said in its tweet. “Five billion discs delivered is a huge milestone and we owe it all to our amazing members and team members.”
5,000,000,000 shipments. F I V E B I L L I O N .
The most heartfelt thank you to our incredible members that have been with us for the past 21 years of DVD Netflix. Five billion discs delivered is a huge milestone and we owe it all to our amazing members and team members. pic.twitter.com/Eg1bjEMtcx
— DVD Netflix (@dvdnetflix) August 26, 2019
The 21-year-old company made its bones as a DVD-by-mail rental service but has steadily been pushing subscribers toward its streaming service for the past decade. Netflix announced last month it had surpassed 150 million streaming subscriber mark, but it still has 2.4 million DVD-rental subscribers, which translates to roughly $157 million in revenue.
So what was the movie tucked into that familiar red envelope that pushed Netflix across the 5 billion threshold? Entertainment Weekly reports that it was the Elton John biopic Rocketman that propelled Netflix past its milestone.
It’s worth noting that while Rocketman is available to rent on disc through Netflix, it’s not available to streaming customers yet. So maybe there’s not much mystery in why many people choose to stick to the DVD program.