Aided by hits like Stranger Things, The Crown, and Bright, Netflix had a big fourth quarter, adding approximately 8.33 million new customers for a total of more than 117.5 million worldwide.
That's up from 93.8 million a year ago, and "exceeded our 6.3 [million] forecast due primarily to stronger than expected acquisition fueled by our original content slate and the ongoing global adoption of internet entertainment," Netflix said in a letter to shareholders.
In the US, total streaming membership was at 54.75 million by year's end, up from 49.43 million during the same period in 2016. Overall, Netflix added 24 million new memberships in 2017 globally, compared to 19 million in 2016.
Original content was the big draw for Netflix, and the company plans to spend up to $8 billion on it in 2018.
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That includes a sequel to the Will Smith sci-fi police movie, Bright, Netflix's "largest investment in original films to date"—a reported $90 million. The film, which arrived on Netflix last month, "has become one of our most viewed original titles ever," according to Netflix, which did not release specific stats.
With news seasons of Stranger Things, The Crown, Black Mirror, and the popularity of new series like Godless, Marvel's The Punisher, and Mindhunter, customers had plenty to watch. Average streaming hours per membership grew by 9 percent year-over-year, Netflix said.
But rival video-streaming services like Amazon and Hulu are also investing big in original content; Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale cleaned up at the recent Golden Globes. Disney is also prepping for the launch of its own streaming service in 2019, while Apple is making investments in original content, too.
"The market for entertainment time is vast and can support many successful services. In addition, entertainment services are often complementary given their unique content offerings," Netflix said. "We believe this is largely why both we and Hulu have been able to succeed and grow."