Segment Information (Information on Reportable Segments and Reconciliation to Consolidated Net Income) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 subscription		Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012 subscription		Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011 subscription unique_subscriber		Dec. 31, 2013 subscription		Dec. 31, 2012 subscription unique_subscriber		Dec. 31, 2011 subscription unique_subscriber
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total members at end of period	0	[1]				0	[1]				0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]	0	[1]
Total unique subscribers at end of period											26,253,000	[1],[2]					26,253,000	[1],[2]
Revenues	$ 1,175,230		$ 1,105,999	$ 1,069,372	$ 1,023,961	$ 945,239		$ 905,089	$ 889,163	$ 869,791	$ 875,575		$ 4,374,562		$ 3,609,282		$ 3,204,577
Cost of revenues											575,155		3,083,256		2,625,866		2,039,901
Marketing											107,647		503,889		465,400		381,269
Contribution profit (loss)											192,773		787,417		518,016		783,407
Other operating expenses											130,901		559,070		468,024		407,339
Operating income											61,872		228,347		49,992		376,068
Other income (expense)											(5,037)		(57,273)		(19,512)		(16,546)
Provision for income taxes											21,616		58,671		13,328		133,396
Net income	48,421		31,822	29,471	2,689	7,897		7,675	6,164	(4,584)	35,219		112,403		17,152		226,126
Total content library, net	3,797,492					2,874,170							3,797,492		2,874,170
Amortization of content library													2,193,306		1,656,614
Domestic Streaming [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total members at end of period	33,420,000	[1]				27,146,000	[1]				21,671,000	[1]	33,420,000	[1]	27,146,000	[1]	21,671,000	[1]
Revenues											476,334		2,751,375		2,184,868
Cost of revenues											345,026		1,849,154		1,558,864
Marketing											73,335		279,454		256,995
Contribution profit (loss)											57,973		622,767		369,009
Total content library, net	2,973,023					2,317,070							2,973,023		2,317,070
Amortization of content library													1,420,076		1,152,446
International Streaming [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total members at end of period	10,930,000	[1]				6,121,000	[1]				1,858,000	[1]	10,930,000	[1]	6,121,000	[1]	1,858,000	[1]
Revenues											28,988		712,390		287,542
Cost of revenues											55,909		774,753		475,570
Marketing											32,822		211,969		201,115
Contribution profit (loss)											(59,743)		(274,332)		(389,143)
Total content library, net	804,690					527,235							804,690		527,235
Amortization of content library													701,905		438,772
Domestic DVD [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total members at end of period	6,930,000	[1]				8,224,000	[1]				11,165,000	[1]	6,930,000	[1]	8,224,000	[1]	11,165,000	[1]
Revenues											370,253		910,797		1,136,872
Cost of revenues											174,220		459,349		591,432
Marketing											1,490		12,466		7,290
Contribution profit (loss)											194,543		438,982		538,150
Total content library, net	19,779					29,865							19,779		29,865
Amortization of content library													71,325		65,396
Domestic [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total unique subscribers at end of period											24,395,000	[1],[2]					24,395,000	[1],[2]
Revenues																	3,121,727
Cost of revenues																	1,932,419
Marketing																	302,752
Contribution profit (loss)																	886,556
International [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total unique subscribers at end of period											1,858,000	[1],[2]					1,858,000	[1],[2]
Revenues																	82,850
Cost of revenues																	107,482
Marketing																	78,517
Contribution profit (loss)																	$ (103,149)

[1] A membership (also referred to as a subscription) is defined as the right to receive either the Netflix streaming service or Netflix DVD service. Memberships are assigned to territories based on the geographic location used at time of sign up as determined by our internal systems, which utilize industry standard geo-location technology. The Company offers free-trial memberships to new and certain rejoining members. For inclusion in the definition of a member in the above metrics, a method of payment is required to be provided even during the free-trial period. Total members therefore include those who are on a free-trial and have provided a method of payment. A membership would be canceled and cease to be reflected in the above metrics as of the effective cancellation date. Voluntary cancellations become effective at the end of the monthly membership period, while involuntary cancellation of the service, as a result of a failed method of payment, becomes effective immediately.

[2] For purposes of determining the number of unique members, domestic members who have elected both a DVD and a streaming membership plan are considered a single unique member.