Netflix is Turning 20—But Its Birthday Doesn't Matter

The mail-order DVD company turned streaming behemoth turns 20 today, but its watershed moments go far beyond 8/29/97.
Image may contain Graphics and Art
WIRED/GETTY IMAGES

A few years ago, one eagle-eyed YouTube user uploaded a true internet find: a 1998 DVD-Rom ad for a new service called NetFlix.com. Over a swell of stringed instruments and a parade of movie posters from Raging Bull to Twins, the new DVD rental company explained itself ("You won't have to search for a video store that carries more than a few titles"). "Holy S**t!" wrote one commenter. "They had Netflix in '98?!" They sure did, Shadowkey392.

In fact, today marks the 20th anniversary of the birth of the company—August 29, 1997, is when Reed Hastings, flush off the sale of his company Pure Atria (nee Pure Software), cofounded it with his colleague Marc Randolph. It wasn't even named Netflix then—it was called Kibble.

But August 29, 1997, is quite possibly the least important date in the company's history. As the past 20 years has shown, Kibble evolved in some precipitous and unexpected ways. So rather than celebrating its birth, it might make more sense to highlight the many other dates that are truly worthy of commemoration—the ones that helped turn Netflix from a mail-order business to a cultural behemoth.

April 14, 1998: NetFlix.com launches

With the DVD format barely a year old—and with fewer than half a million players sold—the Scotts Valley, California-based company announced a daring new business plan. For just a few dollars per rental, members could log on to the newly birthed NetFlix.com and choose from the outfit’s collection of more than nine—wait for it—hundred movies, any of which could by rented via mail. The direct-to-your-door approach might now seem typical of the late-‘90s shop-com boom, but NetFlix’s strongest selling point may have been its pro-binge approach, even back then: While most ‘90s-era video stores needed the latest hot releases back within 24 hours or so, NetFlix let you keep the movie for up to seven days—meaning viewers could rewatch the likes of Lost in Space as many times as they wanted, marveling at the way that not even anti-gravity could keep William Hurt’s frowny-frown from staying firmly in place. —Brian Raftery

September 1999: Subscription model begins

Compared to today’s setup—which allows you to watch as many Lilyhammer episodes as you can stand, for just under $10 a month—the company’s first foray into the subscription world came with a steep price: For $15.95 a month, users could keep four movies for as long as they’d like (a $19.95 unlimited option would be introduced the following year). It was an abrupt change for the 2-year-old company, but one that helped establish what home entertainment would look like in the 21st century, when the once-dodgy subscription plan became Hollywood’s next top model. —Brian Raftery

May 29, 2002: Netflix IPOs

When Netflix went public, it may have been a small company—it had just 600,000 subscribers and fewer than 400 employees—but its IPO was a big deal. It was 2002 and Wall Street wasn’t showing post-bubble tech companies much love, but Netflix opened strong, and has remained a consistent powerhouse ever since. Fifteen years after it hit the Nasdaq, a person who bought $1,000 in stock would have $140,000 in holdings, and the company regularly outperforms Apple and Amazon. Not bad for a company that once got laughed out of Blockbuster. —Angela Watercutter

February 2007: The company begins streaming

By the time Netflix introduced its video-on-demand service—what cofounder Reed Hastings referred to as the company’s second act—it boasted more than 6 million subscribers and had cornered 12 percent of the DVD rental market, but still remained something of an underdog. (Players like Apple, Walmart, and Amazon had taken a gamble on personalized movie downloading years prior, though it had yet to truly catch on). Digital distribution was an entirely uncharted frontier for the scrappy subscription service, but the move proved to be the company’s most transformative play to date: With an initial offering of 1,000 titles—a scant blend of movies and TV shows, including classics like Chinatown and spunky sitcoms such as The Office—Netflix officially ushered in the modern image of streaming. “We have a lot of room to grow,” Hastings said at the time, envisioning a future where users would soon be able to view footage from personal computers, cell phones, and television screens. And grow they did. —Jason Parham

October 10, 2011: Netflix kills Qwikster—a month after announcing it

Any company can make a gutting mistake that sends customers and investors fleeing, triggering an existential threat overnight. Show me one that hasn’t! Netflix’s 2011 introduction of Qwikster, an attempt to separate out its DVD business from its streaming, sent the company into a tailspin, but the more important moment in Netflix history came a month later, almost to the day. That’s when Netflix CEO Reed Hastings decided to kill Qwikster dead, before it ever really had a chance to get going. Qwikster will always be a blemish on Netflix’s record, but just a small pinpoint. Under less assured management, it could have left a much more significant blot. —Brian Barrett

February 1, 2013: House of Cards launches

The debut of the moody political thriller seemed to defy just about every expectation when all 13 episodes hit Netflix at once. It was a studio-financed ($100 million!), auteur-backed (David Fincher!), binge-worthy drama meant to be consumed in one delicious bite. Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood was an utterly beguiling Machiavellian charmer, a conniving South Carolina congressman who schemed his way into power. But the show’s launch, and eventual success, was more than pure symbolism; in July of that year, it became the first streaming-exclusive TV series to garner major accolades, with 9 Emmy nominations. By season’s end, the show confirmed the previously unthinkable: The future of TV would be dictated on streaming platforms. —Jason Parham

October 16, 2015: Beasts of No Nation hits theaters and Netflix on the same day

After moving in on cable’s prestige TV territory with Cards, the streaming service got into the theatrical release game with Beasts of No Nation, a drama about African child soldiers from Cary Joji Fukunaga that Netflix acquired for a reported $12 million. It was the first time the company had released a major motion picture, and it did it simultaneously on Netflix and in theaters—a move the theater owners didn’t really appreciate since, well, who would leave the house and pay $15 to see a movie they can watch (essentially) for free at home? Streamers are still figuring out release schedules—Amazon, for example, leaves breathing room between theatrical and online releases—but Netflix’s power play shook up the industry for good. —Angela Watercutter

December 2007: Netflix spins off Roku

Here’s a fun cocktail-party fact, at least if you go to streaming-media cocktail parties: Netflix invented Roku. It’s true! Back in 2007, the company was within weeks of launching the streaming box when CEO Reed Hastings opted to spin it off as a separate company. At a glance, this seems like a missed opportunity. Netflix is huge! Roku is huge! The math works! But what Hastings realized even then—at that point, its VOD service had barely launched—was that Netflix’s best chance of success was not to build its own top-to-bottom ecosystem but to land on as many devices as possible, whether that’s a Roku, an Apple TV, a smart television set, a Blu-ray player, or even a cable box. Netflix had a choice in that moment between becoming a rival or a partner. It chose wisely. —Brian Barrett

January 6, 2016: Netflix goes live in 130 new countries simultaneously

When Reed Hastings took the stage to deliver the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, people expected him to trumpet all that Netflix had done to revolutionize "internet TV" over the past nine years. What they didn't expect was for the CEO to announce that the service, which had been available in 60 countries, was as of that day more than tripling its reach, adding 130 new nations and becoming effectively ubiquitous. "The number one question I get," he said, standing in front of giant screens displaying dozens of flags, "is 'when is Netflix going to be available here?' ... While you have been listening to me talk, the Netflix service has gone live in nearly every country of the world." The company would no longer be a national phenomenon, or even a regional one—it had, in one fell stream, become a global television network. —Peter Rubin