AUDIO | - intermediate Netflix Netflix Intermediate level - listening | Netflix was founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in 1998, They were technology fans and had experience of developing and running successful websites. They had the idea of creating website that made it easy for people to rent DVDs from home without having to visit the video shop. However, in the late 1990s the DVD player was an expensive luxury in America and few people owned one. On the plus side, the picture quality of « DVD was much better than video, they were smaller in size making storage easier, and it cost the price of single stamp to send a DVD across the USA, Randolph and Hastings decided they had seen the future of home entertainment and invested $2.5, milion to get the business started AUDIO 2 - intermediate Netflix Listening 2 In 2002, Netflix became the leader in the DVD rental market when the cost of a DVD player dropped below $100. Sales revenues that year reached $150 million. In 2005, Netflix shipped over a million DVDs every single day and had more than 35,000 films in its library. In 2010, with better broadband availability, Netflix launched online streaming of movies and this made it one of the most visited websites in America. The rise of Netflix has affected the way audiences watch televised content. Head of products, Neil Hunt, believes that Netflix is @ model for what television will look like in 2025. Netflix's subscription fee also eliminates the need for commercials. Company revenues were $6.7bn in 2015. HOW ADDICTED 10 aaa sn www BusinessEnglishStudy.com 41