The 5 Best Ways Netflix Won the Streaming Wars This Year

• Netflix emerged victorious in the streaming wars this year.
• The company is forecasting billions of dollars in profits and its shares are soaring.
• From enormous advertising ambitions to zeitgeisty true-crime delights, here are five of his greatest achievements.

The year 2024 was a memorable year for Netflix.

Crowned as the winner of the streaming wars, the streamer solidified its already huge lead in subscribers – with more than 280 million paying users around the world in the third quarter, generating billions of dollars in annual profits and sending its stock price soaring.

Meanwhile, Netflix continued to expand its first-mover advantage over money-hungry rivals who backed out and licensed their shows back to Netflix, likely further strengthening its continued dominance.

Netflix continues to release hits that keep people watching and subscribing. Lately there’s been a focus on popular topics like true crime and live events, which have big appeal for advertisers – and water coolers.

The company continues to benefit from its crackdown on password sharing and is expanding its advertising technology and measurement contracts to attract more advertisers to buy on the platform.

Netflix faces questions about how much more it can grow its audience without sacrificing profits, whether it can compete with companies like Amazon’s Prime Video for advertising dollars and how it can attract younger viewers who grew up with YouTube.

But for now, let’s take a look back at the biggest changes Netflix has seen in the past year: