Original series "House of Cards" helped
The video streaming service is officially bigger than
Netflix now has 29.9 million paid U.S. subscribers.
In comparison, Bloomberg reports HBO has about 28.7 million subscribers, according to numbers from SNL Kagan.
Netflix is on a roll right now, at least if you don't count the nosedive the stock took this morning.
The dive comes on the heels of the company's stock hiting an all-time high after Q3 earnings were announced, which had some Wall Street analysts calling the valuation too high.
Regardless, since January the service has launched original shows including Primetime Emmy-winning "House of Cards" and critically acclaimed prison drama "Orange is the New Black."
It also resurrected FOX's old series "Arrested Development" and is in talks for more seasons.
Netflix continues to flip the
The video streaming service is doing something that others (including Hulu) haven't been able to perfect: giving people access to TV shows and movies they want to watch any time they want to view them and in bulk if desired.
In addition, it has helped make binge-watching
Viewership for the final season of "Breaking Bad" skyrocketed. It didn't surge by itself. Even creator Vince Gilligan believes Netflix had a role to play in record numbers.
Cable television subscriptions are only continuing to go down as people are heading elsewhere to watch shows. As of September, 1.8 million ended their TV subscriptions in Q2 of 2013.
What a turn around for the company from 2011.
This may just be the start of the twisting of the knife in paid cable TV. At least until big cable companies like Comcast start trying to enforce internet data caps which could potentially cut into streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
Begun, the cable wars have.