Viewers 'binge' on 'House of Cards' after Netflix record high -

Viewers 'binge' on 'House of Cards' after Netflix record high - 



Netflix saw a bumper number of U.S. subscribers tune in to Web-only TV program "House of Cards" as the second series of the drama was made available on Friday, according to broadband technology firm Procera.
Some 16 percent of Netflix users on one particular Internet service supplied by an unspecified U.S. cable operator watched at least one episode of the show, said Procera.

Procera, which cannot share information on individual clients, said last year the number was 2 percent on a similar sized network, and described the jump in viewers as "massive."

Shares of Netflix hit an all-time high of $439.49 on Thursday, ahead of the show's launch, with the stock surging about 130 percent in the last year. In January the firm posted fourth-quarter earnings that smashed Wall Street's expectations with a fourth straight quarter of accelerating sales growth.
However, hedge fund Blue Ridge and billionaire investor Carl Icahn dumped their shares in Netflix, with Icahn cutting his stake by 2.9 million shares to 2.7 million shares according to a regulatory filing on Friday for the quarter ended Dec. 31.

The network monitored by Procera showed "clear signs of binge watching" as the numbers for each episode show viewers are continuing to watch the series throughout the day on Friday.

Read more - 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101421361

US Navy Frigate Runs Aground Amid Sochi-Overwatch In Black Sea - 



We noted that two US Navy ships - the guided-missile frigate USS Taylor and an amphibious command ship the USS Mount Whitney - entered the Black Sea on Feb 4th on what the Navy said was a routine deployment (following terrorist threats surrounding the Olympic Games in Sochi).

8 days later, the Navy reports, the USS Taylor is under inspection for damage (and rumored to be inoperable) after running aground as it was preparing to moor in Samsun, Turkey.

Via Stars and Stripes,

The guided-missile frigate USS Taylor, one of two ships on deployment in the Black Sea, is being inspected for damage after running aground last week as it was preparing to moor in Samsun, Turkey, a spokesman for the U.S. 6th Fleet said Tuesday.

The Taylor was able to moor without further incident, and there were no injuries, said 6th Fleet spokesman Lt. Shawn Eklund.

The incident, which occurred on Feb. 12, is under further investigation, Eklund said.

The Pentagon announced their planned deployment in January, after terrorist groups threatened to disrupt the Olympic Games in Sochi, the resort town on Russia’s Black Sea coast.

Let's just hope there's no problems in Sochi now? And how does a US Navy frigate run aground while preparing to moor in a friendly environment?

Read more - 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-18/us-navy-frigate-runs-aground-amid-sochi-overwatch-black-sea