The Christian streaming service Pure Flix has more than doubled its membership in the past two years, even as mainstream services such as Netflix and Disney Plus have lost members, according to new data from company executives who attribute the growth to society's need for hope-filled content.
Pure Flix, at PureFlix.com, was launched in 2015 as a faith-based alternative to Netflix and is home to such titles as The Case for Christ, War Room, The Most Reluctant Convert and A Thousand Tomorrows, which was co-written and co-produced by Karen Kingsbury. Children's content includes Veggie Tales and The Adventures of Paddington Bear.
Netflix reported a loss of 1 million subscribers during the first half of 2022, although it rebounded during the last half of the year and added members. Earlier this year, Disney Plus reported losing 2.4 million members during the last quarter of 2022.
Pure Flix, though, has "more than doubled" its members during the past two years, according to a news release. Linda Blazy, the chief content officer at Pure Flix, attributes much of the growth to people needing hope during dark times.
"When people got locked down for three years … they needed to search to find a place for hope and inspiration," Blazy told Christian Headlines. "And fortunately, we were there."
Blazy also attributes the growth to an improved product.
"I believe that over the last two years, what we've really done is increased the quality of the storytelling," she said. "And we have increased also the quantity of content. We've also expanded our genres. … We have really looked at what our members want."
Pure Flix will add more than 20 original titles in the next year, she said. A distinguishing mark of the platform, she said, is that its movies and series are free of coarse content.
"We're a safe place and you're not going to hear language," she said.
Mainstream titles placed on the platform, she said, will include minor edits to make them "cleaner" for the Pure Flix audience. (Sony owns Pure Flix.)
"We do not do the edits. It is done by the filmmaker," she said.
Asked what she would tell families who have never tried Pure Flix, Blazy said, "We have multiple genres. We have faith drama, but we also have clean romance. … If you want some action adventure, we have it. If you want romance, we have it.
"We have something for everyone."
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Drs Producoes
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.