Netflix surpasses cable in number of subscribers

Netflix has leap-frogged cable TV. According to a new study, the streaming service now has more than 50 million subscribers in the United States.

That is two million more subscribers last quarter than cable TV systems boast.

It's the first time that Netflix has taken the lead.  The company says it has more than 100 million members in over 190 countries.

If satellite TV company subscribers were added to the numbers, Netflix would not be the top platform but the news isn't good moving forward for Cable providers.  A report released by Leichtman Research Group noted that major pay-tv providers lost about 410,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2017.

In its last financial report Netflix noted the growth of virtual multichannel video programming distributor or V-MVPDs (like Sling, DirecTVNow and YouTube TV) as people cut the cord from cable but said it was not worried about them having much of an inpact on Netflix.

It says it streams more than 125 million hours of content a day.  Nexflix started in 1997 as an online movie rental portal.