Netflix viewership surging, will have plenty of new content for a few months

Not surprisingly, Netflix viewership is surging during the coronavirus crisis.

And despite the shutdown of most TV and movie productions, the streaming service assures it has months of new content to come before its schedule is disrupted.

Speaking to CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said, "You can imagine, all viewing is up. It’s up on Netflix, on CNN, on television in general. The system has been very robust and can help out a lot of people."

Netflix’s business model of offering an entire season of episodes to consumers at once leaves the company well positioned during the crisis. Many broadcast networks are seeing their seasons interrupted, as their shows are typically still filming new upcoming episodes while the show is currently on the air.

Sarandos added, "Every one of our productions around the world are shut down. It’s unprecedented in history. What’s happening now is we work pretty far ahead with delivering all the episodes of our shows at once, so no disruption over the next few months, maybe later in the year as physical production is not operational."

Upcoming shows include season 3 of Ozark (March 27), season 2 of Ricky Gervais' After Life (April 24), and season 1 of Mindy Kaling's new comedy Never Have I Ever (April 27).

Netflix's shut-down productions include the second season of The Witcher, among others.

The company made headlines last week by agreeing to slow down its streaming quality in Europe (along with YouTube and Amazon Prime) to help free up more network bandwidth now that so many are staying home to slow the spread of COVID-19. Such measures haven't been necessary in the United States, at least so far.

For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov.

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