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7% of Americans now subscribe to Netflix.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Netflix knocked over a new milestone Monday: It now has more subscribers than the largest cable TV operator in the U.S.

Netflix's global subscriber base grew almost 70% over the past year, to 23.6 million users. With that audience, it dethroned Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) as the country's biggest provider of subscription video content. More than 7% of Americans now subscribe to Netflix.

Those details came out Monday in Netflix's (NFLX) first-quarter report, in which the company reported earnings of of $60.2 million, or $1.11 a share. That's up from $32 million, or 59 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 46% to $719 million. Both figures topped Wall Street estimates, but shares fell 2.5% in after-hours trade on light forecasts for the second quarter.

Netflix said it expects earnings of 93 cents to $1.15 a share for the second quarter, lower than analysts' forecasts.

When you're a giant, growth gets harder.

Netflix said in its release that it expects subscriber growth to continue at a rapid clip for the rest of the year, but it warned that year-ago comparisons will get tougher in the coming quarters.

The release also noted the emergence of new, competing services Hulu Plus Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) Prime.