Netflix has passed the 300 million subscriber mark with the largest quarterly growth ever but will no longer regularly report its membership numbers. It is raising the price of its plans in the United States, because it can. The reach of Netflix is comparable to mainstream broadcasters in the United Kingdom, although the volume of viewing is lower.
The total number of Netflix subscribers reached 301.63 million by the end of 2024, excluding extra member accounts. That was slightly ahead of our expected time to pass that milestone, as it added 18.91 million in the fourth quarter of the year, compared to adding 13.12 million in the same quarter the previous year and 5 million the year before that.
Netflix added 5.00 million subscribers in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region in the fourth quarter. It gained 4.94 million in the Asia Pacific region, 4.82 million in the United States and Canada, and 4.15 million in Latin America.
In the United States the price of the 4K package is now just under $25 a month, which is more than twice what it cost 8 years previously.
The lower cost plan with advertising accounted for 55% of signups in countries where it is offered.
Quarterly revenue exceeded $10 billion, with net income for the year of $8.7 billion.
Netflix makes much of the observation that it does not account for more than 10% of television viewing in every country in which it operates. The company suggests that leaves room for growth, although that has been the case for some time. Nevertheless,
Netflix says that it wants to be the first place that members go for entertainment. It reports around two hours of viewing per paid membership per day. It claims that it is entertaining a global audience estimated at over 700 million individuals.
In the United Kingdom, Netflix audience reach overtook that for BBC1, the most popular television channel, in September, October, and November 2024. For these three months the average audience reach for Netflix was 43.2 million, compared to 42.3 million for BBC 1.
The BBC pulled ahead in December, with a reach of 48.4 million for BBC 1, boosted by Christmas Day hits including Gavin & Stacey and
Across its portfolio of channels, with a total audience reach of 52.7 million, the BBC is well ahead of Netflix.
The reach of Netflix is above that for ITV, the leading commercial television channel, but about the same as the portfolio of ITV channels.
The BARB figures for audience reach measure viewing for at least three consecutive minutes in a month. They have included Netflix viewing since October 2022.