Netflix Earnings Up Along With Your Monthly Subscription Bill

Netflix announced it will raise prices on most of its subscription tiers in the U.S. and Canada despite record earnings and more subscribers than ever.

The streaming giant headquartered in Silicon Valley saw its biggest jump in subscribers in the last quarter of 2024 — 19 million — putting Netflix at 302 million users around the world. Its biggest ever jump in viewers nails its top-spot in the industry. But prices are going up for consumers.

The average increase (it varies by carrier, market, and more variables than anyone can ever really decipher) = Standard memberships without ads will increase from $15.49 to $17.99, while a standard account with ads will rise to $7.99. How much do you pay? (Author aside: I somehow pay more?)

Netflix credits its recent numbers that helped boost its success to its most-ever streamed sporting event — Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul — the November boxing match that drew 108 million viewers worldwide. Sports have continued bringing Netflix record numbers in every column, with two Christmas Day NFL faceoffs averaging 30 million global viewers. Those games were the most-streamed in NFL football history.

Why the Price Hike?

A Netflix spokesperson cited the price hikes as a way to further enhance content offerings and maintain the platform’s overall value. This marks the first price hike for the ad-supported tier since its 2022 debut.

“As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” the company said in a letter to investors.

Netflix’s price hike is just one of many as streaming services lure viewers in with low prices that increasingly

The price hike is the latest for consumers as most streaming services increasingly step up monthly costs with multiple tiers of ad-supported plans. In recent years, Disney, Max, Peacock, Apple and others have all raised their prices, according to reports.

“As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” the company said in a letter to investors.

The company on Tuesday reported its revenue increased 16% last quarter, exceeding $10 billion for the first time in its history, while operating income totaled $2.3 billion, a 52% on-year increase. Netflix also announced a $15 billion stock buyback. The news sent shares soaring 13% Tuesday afternoon.

Go Live & Go Sports

On the company’s investor call, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos underscored the streamer’s recent success with live sporting events.

“Even in an amazing quarter where we had three huge live events — we had an incredible fight, two NFL games — we had one of our biggest TV series ever in ‘Squid Game’ season two, all very successful events and titles that we are thrilled about,” Sarandos said.

Sarandos added the company will continue to look to live events and sports for future growth.

“If there was a path where we could actually make the economics work, for both us and the league, we certainly would explore,” Sarandos said. “But, right now, we believe that the live events business is where we really want to be, and sports is a very important part of that, but it is a part of that expansion.”

Tuesday’s earnings marks the final time Netflix will publicly report its paid membership figures on a quarterly basis. Instead, the company said it will begin reporting a twice annual “engagement report” with updates.

The surge in paid subscriptions cements Netflix’s dominance in the streaming space. In recent years, legacy media companies have poured billions into launching their own streaming services to compete with Netflix as their traditional cable and broadcast businesses wither.

While some competitors, including Disney and CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, have recently reached profitability in the streaming space for the first time, the rivals have struggled to match Netflix’s market share.

“We’re fortunate that we don’t have distractions like managing declining linear networks and, with our focus and continued investment, we have good and improving product/market fit around the world,” Netflix said in its earnings report.

Cindy Capitani is the Communications & Content Manager at the Meadowlands Chamber. Send press releases and inquiries to ccapitani@meadowlands.org.