With the third quarter of the year over, Netflix held its earning results call to investors today and revealed a surge in subscriber growth for the three-month period from July to September.
The service saw a gain of 8.76 million to 247.15 million total subscribers. In comparison, the third quarter of last year saw a rise of just 2.4 million subscribers. Revenue was also up with $8.54 billion for the quarter.
Various reasons are being cited for this from a surge of content including the live-action “One Piece,” new seasons of shows like “The Witcher,” “Heartstopper” and “The Lincoln Lawyer,” and its successful password-sharing crackdown initiatives along with the rise of its ad-supported tier.
The company has also generated more than $5 billion in free cash flow thus far in 2023, up from $1.3 billion in the same period in 2022, with that being put down to the savings it has made from the strike limiting its promotional costs.
Despite the success, it’s not being passed down to consumers as the company announced a new round of price hikes for its ad-free tiers. Starting today in the United States, its Basic Plan jumps $2 to $11.99 per month whilst its Premium plan jumps $3 to $22.99 per month.
Its $6.99 ad-supported plan and $15.49 Standard tier are unchanged. Price hikes are also coming to the UK and France. This is well ahead of reports a few weeks back that suggested the price hikes wouldn’t come until after the SAG-AFTRA strike ends. It hasn’t.
The company also says in the wake of the success of its acquisition of “Suits,” they plan to increase “opportunities to license more hit titles to complement our original programming”.
Finally, it has been revealed that David Ellison’s Skydance Animation has found a new home at Netflix after ending its distribution pact with Apple Studios. The company will exclusively release its animated movies directly to Netflix in an arrangement that will span multiple years. First on the list will be “Spellbound” starring Rachel Zegler and Tituss Burgess.
Source: Deadline
