Xbox Live tallies 1 million Netflix Watch Instantly activations, 1.5 billion minutes served

Bad news first: there might be a bit more competition than you expected for that home theater giveaway. Good luck bringing down Netflix's shooting star though, as if last week's good news train wasn't enough comes news that over a million Xbox Live Gold members have already downloaded and activated the Watch Instantly app since its NXE debut last November. That's more than 10% of Netflix's just announced 9.4 million subscribers who've already watched over 1.5 billion minutes of TV and movies through their consoles. They're not the only ones happy, while streaming may be eating into DVD rentals, Xbox Live Marketplace rentals are up 174 percent year over year. The streaming library is up to 12,000 titles, with a "growing percentage" in high definition, for the rest of the celebratory details check the full PR after the break. Nothing left for us to say but congratulations and hey, if you get a minute, could you fix Nilay's HD streaming on the Xbox? Thanks.

For Release 12:01 a.m. PST
Feb. 5, 2009

One Million Xbox LIVE Members Download and Activate Netflix on Xbox360
1.5 billion minutes watched instantly by Xbox LIVE community.

REDMOND, Wash., and LOS GATOS, Calif. - Feb. 5, 2009 - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: "MSFT") and Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: "NFLX") today announced that 1 million Xbox LIVE Gold members have downloaded and activated the groundbreaking Xbox LIVE application from Netflix since the alliance launched last November. In less than three months the Xbox LIVE community has watched instantly 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV episodes.
The Netflix application offers Xbox LIVE Gold members the ability to instantly watch movies and TV episodes from Netflix on a television via the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. Xbox 360 is the only gaming and entertainment console that lets viewers instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix. Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited members can instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed instantly from Netflix on Xbox LIVE for no additional fee.

"Adding Netflix to our ever-growing library of 30,000 movies and TV shows makes Xbox 360 the best value in home entertainment," said John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment, LIVE, Software and Services Business at Microsoft. "With over 1 million activations and 1.5 billion minutes watched to date, Netflix is a great win for Xbox living rooms nationwide. These families are getting more entertainment from Xbox 360 than from any other device connected to their TVs."

"Netflix continues to provide its 9.4 million subscribers unprecedented convenience, selection and value," said Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Kilgore. "With more than 100,000 titles on DVD and 12,000 movies and TV episodes available to watch instantly, there's no better way to enjoy movies than Netflix. As these strong results on Xbox demonstrate, Xbox LIVE is a terrific way for Netflix members to enjoy watching movies instantly on their TVs."

In addition to Netflix in the United States, Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace offers over 17,000 pieces of standard and high-definition (HD) content to the Xbox LIVE community. From December 2008 to January 2009, Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace downloads have grown 174 percent year over year.

More than 12,000 movies and TV episodes are currently available to watch instantly from Netflix, with more on the way. A growing percentage of choices that are available to watch instantly are also available in HD.

The library of movies and TV episodes available to watch instantly from Netflix via Xbox 360 includes scores of Academy Award winners and nominees; a number of popular, currently running and classic TV episodes; more than 20 of the movies rated by the American Film Institute among the greatest ever; and access to the Starz Play service.