As Netflix subscriptions receive a boost from accounts that were previously shared, the streamer has confirmed plans to cease the reporting of exactly how many subscribers it has.
Global subscriptions stood at 269.60 million as of the end of March 2024, a year-on-year increase of 16%
9.33 million subscribers were added in the quarter.
Revenues increased by 15% to $9,370 million.
The decision to no longer report subscriber numbers – or membership as Netflix has always refered to – will be disappointing for the markets, analysts and journalists.
“The movement to no longer disclose quarterly subscriptions from next year will not go down well; more so given subs growth that the streaming king has seen over the last year,” said Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight. “Subsequent quarters might be challenging due to seasonality; which typically underperforms compared to other quarters as people spend more time outside of the home.”
Subscribers to Netflix with ads grew 65% quarter-on-quarter, after a 70% rise in both the last two quarters of 2023.
40% of all signups in markets where the advertising-supported option is available take the tier.
“In our early days, when we had little revenue or profit, membership growth was a strong indicator of our future potential. But now we’re generating very substantial profit and free cash flow,” explained Netflix in its Shareholder Letter.
“We are also developing new revenue streams like advertising and our extra member feature, so memberships are just one component of our growth. In addition, as we’ve evolved our pricing and plans from a single to multiple tiers with different price points depending on the country, each incremental paid membership has a very different business impact.”
UK content had a stand-out quarter with Fool Me Once (98.2 million views), The Gentlemen (61.0 million views), One Day (36.0 million views) and Ricky Gervais: Armageddon (12.7 million views).
Almost 270 million households across 190+ countries now subscribe to Netflix. With more than two people per household on average, this gives the streamer an audience of over half a billion people.
