Hulu has picked up an additional five million customers since the streaming service last reported subscriber numbers in May 2016 — an increase of 42 percent.

That gives the streaming service more than 17 million paid subscribers, with a potential shared household audience of 54 million.

Hulu’s growth is attributed to a dramatic increase in its catalog of television series, original productions, and movies. When the service launched, it primarily showcased selections of recent episodes from current network shows aired by Hulu’s owners — Walt Disney Co. (ABC), Comcast Corp. (NBC), 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOX), and Time Warner Inc., and a handfuls of seasons of older series no longer airing on network television, many originally running on CBS.

Hulu has gradually shifted away from a free, ad-supported streaming service to a paid subscription model offering subscription options for limited or no commercials. As Hulu’s content library grew and the service offered a more complete library of series, it has also picked up subscribers. Much of its recent growth has come from attracting new subscribers seeking Hulu’s new original shows and a deep catalog of older series from the United States and United Kingdom. Hulu also improved its movie catalog with a larger selection of popular movie titles, some relatively recent.

In 2017, Hulu introduced a cable television replacement service offering live and on-demand programming from a wide selection of cable networks and a significant number of local network affiliates. Today, Hulu offers more than 75,000 episodes of 1,700 different television shows and features — more than double than any of its competitors.

But Hulu still has significant room to grow to reach Netflix, which has more than 109 million customers worldwide, including 52.8 million in the U.S., as of the end of September.