Netflix reported a strong fourth quarter for its number of subscribers, with 7.7 million added, more than three times the amount added in the third quarter. This increase was partially attributed to the introduction of a lower-priced, ad-supported tier in November, a service that Netflix had previously resisted under Co-CEO Reed Hastings. A report released by Ampere Analysis showed that daily subscription signups shot up by more than 50 percent during the first few days this tier was available, and nearly 10 percent of new customer signups are now for the ad-supported tier.
This comes at a time when Netflix had seen a decline in subscribers during the first and second quarters of last year, as well as slower growth on revenue and earnings per share, which were below expectations. The company had previously said that password sharing was eating into subscribers, and has pledged to crack down on that in 2023.
In addition to this strong subscriber growth, Netflix reported that Wednesday is its No. 3 series of all time, while Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is its fourth-most-popular film ever. The documentary Harry & Meghan is the second-ranked doc of all time on the service.
The fourth quarter was a successful one for Netflix, with the introduction of the ad-supported tier providing a significant boost. Whether this trend will continue into the future remains to be seen.