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On February 5, 2009, Microsoft and Netflix announced that one million Xbox LIVE Gold members had downloaded and activated the Netflix application for Xbox 360 since the partnership launched the previous November. The companies also reported a separate milestone: Xbox LIVE members had watched 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV episodes in less than three months. The first figure counts activations, not people watching at that moment.
What the one-million figure counted
The headline’s “users” is shorthand. The joint announcement measured Xbox LIVE Gold members who had downloaded and activated the Netflix Xbox LIVE application. It did not say that one million people were watching simultaneously, or establish how often each activated member used the app. The count covered the period since the alliance launched in November 2008. Microsoft and Netflix’s February 5, 2009 announcement gave the milestone.
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Activations and viewing were different measures
Alongside the activation count, Microsoft and Netflix said Xbox LIVE members had watched 1.5 billion minutes of movies and television episodes in less than three months. That is a total viewing-time figure, not a count of app downloads or unique viewers; the announcement did not specify how viewing minutes were distributed among members.
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How Netflix worked on Xbox 360 in 2009
The Netflix application streamed movies and television episodes to a television through the Xbox 360. Under the terms described in the 2009 announcement, a viewer needed Xbox LIVE Gold membership and a Netflix unlimited membership; Netflix streaming through Xbox LIVE carried no additional fee. Those are historical terms, not confirmation of current app availability, device compatibility, or subscription requirements.
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Other figures in the announcement
The companies included several measures of Netflix and Xbox activity at the time. Each describes 2009 conditions rather than present-day services or usage.
- Netflix subscribers: 9.4 million, as reported in the joint announcement.
- Netflix catalog: more than 100,000 DVD titles and 12,000 movies and television episodes available to watch instantly, according to Netflix’s figures in the announcement.
- Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace: Microsoft reported that downloads grew 174 percent year over year from December 2008 to January 2009. This was a marketplace-download measure, separate from Netflix app activations.
Microsoft executive John Schappert described the combination as “over 1 million activations and 1.5 billion minutes watched to date.” Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Kilgore called Xbox LIVE a way for Netflix members to watch movies instantly on their televisions. Their remarks referred to the same early results announced in February 2009, not current service figures.
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