Streaming services giant Netflix took a big step Wednesday to expand its global footprint, sending the company’s share price soaring.
Against the backdrop of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings announced the Los Gatos, Calif., company had added 130 more countries to its service.
That marks a substantial increase in the size of Netflix’s global network, which previously spanned 60 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, and in the Pacific. Now, Netflix has services in more than 190 countries, including Russia, India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
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“When we started Netflix nearly 20 years ago, we dreamed of the day when the Internet would enable us to deliver TV shows and movies to the billions of people with whom we share the planet,” Hastings told the crowd during his keynote address. “Today, right now, you are witnessing the birth of a global TV network.”
Netflix also said that it was including Arabic, Korean and Chinese to the 17 other languages already available.
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A behind-the-scenes look at filming around the world for television and movies, as seen from the streets.
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Mariska Hargitay, who stars on “Law & Order: SVU” as Olivia Benson, directs an episode of the TV series on Dec. 15 in New York City.
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Elle Fanning, left, and Naomi Watts are seen filming “Three Generations” on Nov. 19, 2014, in New York City.
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Rami Malek on the set of “Mr. Robot” on Nov. 7, 2014, in New York City.
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Peter Sarsgaard, left, Uma Thurman, Brian Cox and Penn Badgley on the set of “The Slap” on Nov. 10, 2014, in New York City.
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Penn Badgley and Uma Thurman on the set of “The Slap” on Nov. 10, 2014, in New York City.
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Donnie Wahlberg and his stand-in on the set of “Blue Bloods” on Oct. 31, 2014, in New York City.
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Hilary Duff and Thorbjorn Harr on the set of “Younger” on Oct. 29, 2014, in New York City.
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Patricia Arquette on Oct. 22, 2014, in Los Angeles.
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Zac Barnett of American Authors is seen on set for a video shoot on Oct. 26, 2014, in Dickson, Tenn.
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Extras acting in the HBO series “Game of Thrones” leave the bullring on Oct. 22, 2014, as film crews began shooting part of the fifth season in the southern Spanish city of Osuna.
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Indira Varma is on the set of “Game of Thrones” at Real Alcazar on Oct. 19, 2014, in Seville, Spain.
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Actors film “Game of Thrones” at Real Alcazar on Oct. 19, 2014, in Seville, Spain.
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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is on the set of “Game of Thrones” at Real Alcazar on Oct. 19 in Seville, Spain.
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Actor Mark Wahlberg and Amanda Seyfried are seen on the set of “Ted 2" on Oct. 7, 2014, in New York City with Ted (the bear is voiced by Seth MacFarlane).
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Ted looks out the window on the set of “Ted 2" on Oct. 5, 2014, in New York City.
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James Spader on the set of “The Blacklist” on Oct. 8, 2014, in New York City.
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Vince Vaughn is seen on the set of “Unfinished Business” on Oct. 4, 2014, in Boston.
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Zac Efron is seen on the set of “We Are Your Friends” on Sept. 26, 2014, in Los Angeles.
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Julianne Moore and Michael Shannon are seen filming “Freeheld” in the Queens borough of New York on Oct. 2, 2014.
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Zac Efron and Max Joseph on the set of “We Are Your Friends” in Los Angeles.
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Amanda Seyfried on the set of “Ted 2" in Boston.
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Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lizzy Caplan on the set of “Christmas Eve Project” in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Actor Peter Vack and actress Lola Kirke for “Mozart in the Jungle” in New York City.
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Zac Efron on the L.A. set of “We Are Your Friends.”
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Rebecca Ferguson and Tom Cruise on the set of “Mission: Impossible 5" on the roof of the opera house in Vienna.
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Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway film “The Intern” on Aug. 26 in New York City.
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Steve Buscemi films on the last day of principal photography for “Boardwalk Empire” on Aug. 25 in the Far Rockaway section of New York City.
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Zac Efron is seen filming “We Are Your Friends” on Aug. 21, 2014, in Los Angeles.
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Anthony Mackie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen on the set of “Christmas Eve Project” on Aug. 18, 2014, in New York City.
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Actor James Spader on the set of “The Blacklist” on Aug. 14, 2014, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Ben Affleck walks along a Detroit sidewalk on the set of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” on Aug. 9.
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Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken and Jason Bateman are seen on the set of “The Family Fang” in Harriman Park, N.Y., on Aug. 14.
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James Franco is seen in character on set of “Michael” in Freeport, N.Y., on Aug. 14.
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Sienna Miller on the set of “Adam Jones” in London’s Leicester Square.
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Jonny Lee Miller on the set of the television series “Elementary” on Aug. 5 in New York City.
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Uma Thurman on the “Adam Jones” set in London.
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Nicole Kidman is seen at the filming of “The Family Fang” on Aug. 4 in New York City.
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Actor Jason Bateman on the set of “The Family Fang” in Rye, N.Y.
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Amanda Seyfried on the “Ted 2" set in Boston.
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Helen Mirren filming ‘The Woman in Gold’ in Los Angeles.
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Charlie Hunnam filming “Sons of Anarchy” in Los Angeles.
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Actors Jason Orley, Zack Pearlman and Robert De Niro on the set of “The Intern” in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Actor Bobby Cannavale and director Martin Scorsese on the set of the “Untitled HBO/Rock N’ Roll Project” in New York City.
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Robert De Niro’s stand-in and stunt double on the set of “The Intern” in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Katie Holmes and Ryan Reynolds filming “Woman in Gold” in Los Angeles.
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Cameron Monaghan and Emmy Rossum on the set of “Shameless” in Los Angeles.
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Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis on the set of “Sleeping With Other People” in New York City.
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Anne Hathaway on the set of “The Intern” in New York City.
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Matt Bomer and Laura Ramsey on the set of “White Collar” in New York City.
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Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer on the set of “Trainwreck” in New York City.
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Bill Hader and Amy Schumer on the set of “Trainwreck” in New York City.
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Robert De Niro and Linda Lavin on the set of “The Intern” in New York City.
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Christoph Waltz is on the set of “Tarzan” in London.
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Adam Scott on the set of “Sleeping With Other People” in New York City.
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Patricia Clarkson, left, and Samantha Bee on the set of “Learning to Drive” in New York City.
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Scott Cooper and Juno Temple on set of “Black Mass” in Boston.
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Benedict Cumberbatch on the set of “Black Mass” in Boston.
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Amy Schumer on the set of “Trainwreck” in New York City.
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Josh Helman and Damon Herriman on the set of “Flesh and Bone” in New York City.
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Taylor Lautner on the set of “Run the Tide” in Los Angeles.
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Amanda Peet on the set of “Sleeping With Other People” in New York City.
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Amanda Peet and Jason Sudeikis on the set of “Sleeping With Other People” in New York City.
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Sophie Nelisse and Kathy Bates on the set of “The Great Gilly Hopkins” in New York City.
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Actors Jason Sudeikis and Margarita Levieva on the set of “Sleeping With Other People” on June 9, 2014, in New York City.
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Johnny Depp on set of “Black Mass” on June 9, 2014, in Boston.
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Bradley Cooper, center, with cast and crew on the set of “American Sniper” in Malibu on June 4.
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Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller film a wedding scene for “American Sniper” in Los Angeles.
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Kevin Connolly, left, Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier and Jerry Ferrara film a scene for “Entourage” on June 2 in L.A.
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Vin Diesel, center, on the set of “Fast & Furious 7" on June 2 in L.A.
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Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen on the set of “Brooklyn” in New York City.
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Actor Ed Harris on the set of “The Adderall Diaries” on May 24, 2014, in New York City.
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Elijah Wood filming “Wilfred” on May 23, 2014, in Los Angeles.
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Clint Eastwood and Sienna Miller on the set of “American Sniper” in Los Angeles.
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Sylvester Stallone poses with his puppet as he takes part in the TV show “Le Grand Journal” at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Poppy Montgomery and Boris Kodjoe on the set of “Unforgettable” in New York City.
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Jemima Kirke on locationin New York City for HBO’s “Girls.”
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Allison Williams, who plays Marnie Michaels, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who is Desi, on the set of “Girls” in New York City.
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Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir film a scene from the TV series “The Bridge” in Los Angeles.
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Lena Dunham filming “Girls” in New York City.
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Kelsey Grammer filming “Breaking the Bank” in London.
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Kiefer Sutherland on the set of “24" on March 9, 2014, in London.
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Mary Lynn Rajskub on the set of “24" on March 9, 2014, in London.
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Simon Pegg on the set of ‘Absolutely Anything’ on April 28, 2014, in London.
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Actress Hailee Steinfeld with a fake pregnant belly and Asa Butterfield on the set of “Ten Thousand Saints” in Tompkins Square Park on May 1, 2014, in New York City.
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Jamie Foxx filming “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" on April 21, 2013, in New York City.
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Actor Andrew Garfield, center left, is seen on the set of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in New York City with his stunt double William Spencer, right, and a second stunt double.
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Actor Andrew Garfield, right, rehearses a scene with his stunt double William Spencer on the “The Amazing Spiderman 2" movie set in Madison Square Park in New York.
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Actor Andrew Garfield, right, his stunt double William Spencer, center, and a second stunt double are seen on the set of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in New York City.
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Jamie Foxx filming on location for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" on April 21, 2013, in New York City.
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Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone filming “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" on location in New York City.
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Jamie Foxx as Electro/Max Dillon in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" on location in New York City.
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Actor Andrew Garfield, right, his stunt double William Spencer, center, and a second stunt double are seen on the set of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in New York City.
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Actor Paul Giamatti films a scene at the “The Amazing Spiderman 2" movie set in Madison Square Park on June 22, 2013, in New York City.
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Actor Andrew Garfield is seen on the set of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in New York City.
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Actor Paul Giamatti is seen on the set of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in New York City.
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Actor Paul Giamatti on the set of “The Amazing Spiderman 2" in New York City’s Madison Square Park.
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Jamie Foxx on location for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in New York City.
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Kyra Sedgwick on the set of “Time Out of Mind” in New York City.
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Kate Beckinsale on the film set of “Absolutely Anything” in London.
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Lena Dunham and Adam Driver film a scene for “Girls” on April 16, 2014, in New York City.
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Sam Worthington filming “Cake” on location in Los Angeles.
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Jennifer Aniston filming “Cake” on location in Los Angeles.
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Tina Fey and husband Jeff Richmond on the set of “Tooken” on March 27, 2014, in New York City.
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Actress Katie Holmes is seen on the set of “Dangerous Liaisons"on April 3, 2014, in New York City.
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Jena Malone on the set of “Time Out of Mind” on April 1, 2014, in New York City.
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Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart play mother and daughter filming on location for “Still Alice” on March 21, 2014, at Lido Beach, N.Y.
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Richard Gere on the set of “Time Out Of Mind” on March 26, 2014, in New York City.
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Jeremy Renner films an action scene in Aoasta, Italy, for “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”.
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Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson film on location in Pont-Saint-Martin in Aosta, Italy, for “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
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Actors are suited up for special effects on the set of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in Aosta, Italy.
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Richard Gere and Ben Vereen on the set of “Time Out Of Mind” on March 26, 2014, in New York City.
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Actress Zoe Saldana on the “Rosemary’s Baby” set on the last day of shooting on March 27, 2014, in Paris.
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Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin film “Still Alice” on New York’s Long Island.
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Peter Capaldi is up a tree during filming for the eighth season of BBC’s “Doctor Who” in Bute Park in Cardiff, Wales.
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Katherine Heigl films the NBC pilot of “State of Affairs” in New York City.
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A large monster is spotted during filming of the BBC series “Doctor Who” in Cardiff, Wales.
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Kate Walsh is ready for a scene in the TV movie “Bad Judge,” filming in Los Angeles.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger performs on the set of “Despierta America” with Joe Manganiello at Univision Headquarters in Miami.
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Actresses Kristen Stewart and Julianne Moore on the set of “Stille Alice” on March 14, 2014, in New York City.
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Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin on the set of “Still Alice” on March 11, 2014, in New York City.
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Carey Mulligan on the set of “Suffragette” on March 14, 2014, in London.
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Donal Logue, left, and Ben McKenzie on the set of “Gotham” on March 20, 2014, in New York City.
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Lea Michele on the set of “Glee” on March 13, 2014, in New York City.
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Kevin McHale, left, Chord Overstreet, Chris Colfer and Darren Chris on the set of “Glee” at Washington Square Park on March 14, 2014, in New York City.
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Lea Michele and Michael Lerner on the set of “Glee” on March 16, 2014, in New York City.
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Actor Ian Ziering is seen on the set of “Sharknado 2" in New York City.
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A shark’s head prop is carried onto the set of “Sharknado 2" in New York City. The prop assistant’s arm remained intact.
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Liam Neeson films a scene for the TV series “Entourage” in Los Angeles.
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Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold), left, and Liam Neeson work together on a scene for the TV show “Entourage” in L.A.
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Ian Ziering and Vivica Fox on the set of “Sharknado 2" on Feb. 19, 2014, in New York City.
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Mark Wahlberg and Jessica Lange filming “The Gambler” on location in Los Angeles.
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Liev Schreiber films “Ray Donovan” on Feb. 03, 2014, in Los Angeles.
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Louie CK on the set of “Louie” on Jan. 31, 2014, in New York City.
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Wil Estes and Vanessa Ray on the set of “Blue Bloods” on Jan. 31, 2014, in New York City.
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Skyler Gisondo and Ben Stiller on the set of “Night at the Museum 3" on Feb. 6, 2014, in New York City.
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Actors Ethan Hawke, Hailee Steinfeld, left, and Asa Butterfield on the set of “Ten Thousand Saints” on Jan. 27, 2014, in New York City.
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Jon Hamm on the set of “Mad Men” on Jan. 14, 2014, in Los Angeles.
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George Clooney, second from left, filming “Tomorrowland” at Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias on Jan. 21, 2014, in Valencia, Spain.
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Action from the set of TV series “24" on Jan. 22, 2014, in London.
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Chris Evans and Alice Eve on the set of “1:30 Train” on Dec. 18, 2013, in New York City.
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Bethany Joy Lenz, left, Rumer Willis and Robert Hoffman in Washington Square Park filming “Songbyrd” on Jan. 20, 2014, in New York City.
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Kevin Bacon and Sprague Grayden on the set of “The Following” on Dec. 10, 2013, in New York City.
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Jennifer Lopez on the set of “The Boy Next Door” in Los Angeles.
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Mark Wahlberg is seen on set filming the movie ‘Transfomers 4: Age of Extinction’ on Sunday October 27,2013 in Hong Kong,China.
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Mark Wahlberg performs on the set of “Transformers: Age of Extinction” in Hong Kong on Oct. 26, 2013.
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Scarlett Johansson filming a scene for her new movie, “Lucy” on Oct. 21, 2013, in Taipei, China.
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Director Clint Eastwood, right, and actor John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli on the set of “Jersey Boys” in Kearny, N.J.
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Actress Li Bingbing and actor Stanley Tucci filming “Transfomers 4: Age of Extinction” in Hong Kong.
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Edie Falco, left, and Julie White on the set of “Nurse Jackie” in New York City.
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Actor Mark Wahlberg on the set of “Transfomers 4: Age of Extinction” in Hong Kong.
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Quvenzhane Wallis, right, is shown with her stand-in on the set of “Annie” in September in New York City.
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Quvenzhane Wallis and Jamie Foxx are seen on the set of “Annie” in September in New York City.
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As in the U.S., consumers in the newly added countries who pay a monthly fee will be able to watch Netflix original series as well a library of movies and TV shows.
Netflix said it will release 31 new and returning series in 2016, in addition to 24 films and documentaries, and 30 original children’s series and a range of stand-up comedy specials. This week Netflix announced an expansion of its partnership with Glendale studio DreamWorks Animation.
“With this launch, consumers around the world — from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo — will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously — no more waiting,” Hastings said.
Although investors were expecting Netflix to expand its network, the size of the expansion came as a pleasant surprise to many on Wall Street who had fretted over a slowdown in Netflix’s domestic business.
Netflix Inc. shares climbed $10.02, or 9.3%, to $117.68 on Wednesday.
“The shift of power in media consumption has gone from corporations and their advertisers to the user through Netflix and the Internet,” wrote Brian Fitzgerald, a media analyst with Jeffries.
When we started Netflix nearly 20 years ago, we dreamed of the day when the Internet would enable us to deliver TV shows and movies to the billions of people.
Reed Hastings, Netflix Chief Executive
For Netflix, the expansion is driven by a desire to tap into a vast market for Internet television and a growing appetite among consumers to watch TV shows whenever they want, without commercials. Hastings noted that there were 3.2 billion people online in 2015, up from 400 million in 2000.
In an interview with The Times on Wednesday, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said Netflix was entering a new phase.
“The whole idea of near-global penetration of this service and delivering the news cloaked in secrecy at CES, it’s pretty astonishing,” Sarandos said. “The real work starts now of creating a really great global service with Netflix ... becoming more localized with additional languages, having additional payment options and increasing the local content in some of the territories. All that work is what’s ahead of us starting today.”
After finding success in the U.S. with its DVD-by-mail business and now its streaming service, Netflix has increasingly turned overseas for growth opportunities. Last year, Netflix rolled out its services in Japan, Australia and Spain, among others. One country that remains out of reach is China, where Netflix faces competition from local streaming services and potential censorship issues. But Sarandos expressed optimism that Netflix would eventually crack the world’s second-largest film market.
“China, we’ll figure out,” Sarandos said. “It’s a very dynamic situation for foreign media companies and foreign media ownership in China. We’ve been at it, and we’ll continue to work at it. The one thing I think will excite China about Netflix is it gives them the opportunity to have their stories told around the world.”
Netflix also won’t be available in Crimea, North Korea and Syria because of “U.S. government restrictions on American companies.”
Netflix subscribers watched 12 billion hours of content globally over the last three months of 2015, an increase of 45% over the same period in 2014, Hastings said.
Netflix closed out its third quarter last year with 69.2 million streaming subscribers in more than 40 countries, including 26 million outside the U.S.
But the company has drawn more scrutiny from investors in recent months because of slower-than-expected subscriber growth in the U.S. The slowdown is expected to be reflected in the company’s fourth-quarter results, which will be released this month.
Netflix shares dropped Monday after a downgrade from Robert W. Baird, which lowered its price target to $115.
“At some point, you get big, and the growth slows, but you still continue to grow,” Sarandos said of Wall Street reaction this week. “That’s just an organic thing that will happen to any service in any business. We look at the U.S. business as healthy and growing. Will it grow as fast as it did in the early days? The second 50 million is a lot tougher than the first 50 million.”
