Netflix added another 5.05 million subscribers across EMEA during Q4 2023, despite the streamer putting up its prices in October.
Netflix’s most expensive service rose to £17.99 (€20.65) per month in the UK and France, while the ad-free lowest-priced streaming option cost £7.99 in the UK.
Despite, the increase the streaming service had 88.8 million subscribers in EMEA at the end of 2023.
Speaking about the decision to raise the price, the company’s co-CEO Greg Peters told analysts on the company’s earnings call: “Those changes went well, better than we forecasted. And we’ll continue to monitor other countries and try and assess when we’ve delivered enough additional entertainment value. [We’ll] look at engagement retention acquisition as a signal there so that we can go back to members and ask them to pay a bit more to keep that positive flywheel going.”
Globally, Netflix added 13.1 million subscribers for the fourth quarter of 2023, a record for that quarter. As of the end of 2023, Netflix has 260.28 million global subscribers.
In its letter to shareholders, Netflix broached the subject of consolidation within the industry, stating: “It’s logical to expect further consolidation, particularly among companies with large and declining linear networks. We’re not interested in acquiring linear assets. Nor do we believe that further M&A among traditional entertainment companies will materially change the competitive environment given all the consolidation that has already happened over the last decade (Viacom/CBS, AT&T/Time Warner, Disney/Fox, Time Warner/Discovery, etc.).
“But we expect our industry to remain highly competitive given: the franchise strength and programming expertise within traditional entertainment companies; ongoing heavy investment from large tech players like YouTube, Amazon and Apple; and broader competition for people’s time, including gaming and social media (TikTok, Instagram etc.). It’s why continuing to improve our entertainment offering is so important, and as many of our competitors cut back on their content spend, we continue to invest in our slate. In FY24, we expect a high single-digit percentage year-over-year increase in content amortisation,” said the company.
