There's apparently no slowdown from the public to sign up and stream shows on Netflix. Today, the premium streaming service announced (via PDF document) that it has added 13.12 million subscribers worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2023, bringing its total audience up to 260.8 million paid users.
Revenue for the quarter also came in above expectations at $8.833 billion worldwide, compared to $7.852 billion a year ago. Net income was $938 million for the quarter, which was higher than the $55.3 million in net income from a year ago.
Netflix's paid subscriber plan continues to be a popular and more affordable way to access the service. Netflix stated today that it has seen a 70 percent growth in its ad subscriber plans in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter. It will begin to eliminate its Basic no-ads plans in more countries in 2024, starting with Canada and the UK in the second quarter.
At the same time, the company hinted strongly that we may see more price hikes in 2024. It stated:
As we invest in and improve Netflix, we’ll occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra to reflect those improvements.
Netflix's game business, while still a tiny percentage of its total revenues, is still gaining traction, according to the company. It launched the Grand Theft Auto trilogy of mobile games in December, and Netflix stated today it was its biggest game launch yet, "with some consumers clearly signing up simply to play these games."
While the Hollywood writer's and actors' strikes in 2023 did slow down the production of new shows and movies, Netflix says we can still expect a lot of original content in 2024. The second season of Squid Game and the third season of Bridgerton are due out in 2024, and big movies like Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F also are coming in the next year. Starting in 2025. Netflix will be the (nearly) worldwide streaming home for WWE pro wrestling, and will even bring its weekly WWE Raw show to the US next year.
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