Netflix Reverses 6 Months of Subscriber Loss

Netflix added 2.4 million subscribers in its most recent quarter as it surpassed its competitors in user engagement.

In a letter to its shareholders Tuesday (Oct. 18), the company said its revenue, operating income and membership slightly exceeded its forecasts in the third quarter of 2022.

The streaming giant said the quarter saw it release some of its most-watched programming, including “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” and the latest season of “Stranger Things.”

In addition, the company said it had higher engagement than other streamers, accounting for 7.6% of TV time in the U.S., a number it said is more than twice as much as Amazon and 1.4 times greater than Disney+ and Hulu.

Read more: Netflix Trims 150 Mostly US Jobs Amid Subscription Growth Slowdown

Netflix saw a 6% year-over-year growth in revenue during the quarter, driven primarily by a 5% increase in average paid memberships.

“After a challenging first half, we believe we’re on a path to reaccelerate growth,” Netflix said in a letter to shareholders.

That first half saw the company’s stock drop significantly after Netflix announced its global subscriber base had fallen by 200,000 in the first quarter of the year, the first decrease in more than 10 years.

Netflix laid off employees in response to this drop and has been making additional changes, such as its ad-supported plan. In Tuesday’s letter, the company said the ad-supported plans would launch in 12 countries next month.

Related: Netflix Moves Into Commerce to Monetize Consumer Eyeballs

Last week, Netflix opened an immersive multimedia experience called Netflix at The Grove at Los Angeles’ eponymous retail and entertainment district.

As PYMNTS noted at the time, it’s the latest off-screen move by Netflix to keep the attention of viewers amid the inflation-induced “great unsubscribe.”

“It may be time for Netflix to stage its next Blockbuster pivot — but it must do more than just follow the pack and bring ads into the mix,” PYMNTS’ Karen Webster wrote earlier this year.

“Or simply add content about the content it already has on the platform as some suggest, to build upon and expand its core. Both strategies take the view that Netflix’s content is its primary asset.”