WHOA! Netflix Scores Nearly 16 Million Subscribers in First Quarter

The streaming subscriber wars are heating up as the world shelters at home amidst coronavirus stay home orders.

According to Variety, Netflix gained 15.77 million paid subscribers when the streaming giant had expected 7 million new subscribers.

“membership growth has temporarily accelerated due to home confinement,” Netflix said in its quarterly shareholder letter. In addition, it said that due to the shutdown of Hollywood productions “some cash spending on content will be delayed, improving our free cash flow, and some title releases will be delayed, typically by a quarter.”

The news comes amidst Netflix’s rivals Apple TV Plus, CBS All Access and HBO offering selections of free content or free watching codes to get viewers to watch their platform.