Netflix expects live events like the Jake Paul x Mike Tyson boxing match to be “a small percentage of our total view hours and content expense,” but still thinks they will “result in outsized value to both our members and our business,” it said during its fourth-quarter earnings call this week.
The Paul x Tyson match and two NFL games, all aired exclusively by Netflix, helped drive the streamer to record viewership in December, and helped it clinch 18.9 million new subscribers for Q4 2024–more than double what analysts expected, and its biggest single-quarter subscriber growth in history.
This growth puts Netflix at over 300 million subscribers worldwide—and (fortuitously for Netflix) is likely the last official number we’ll hear from the company, since it’s decided to no longer report sub counts moving forward. As co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in November, Netflix is switching to a YouTube-esque watch time model of measuring viewer activity, “because we believe it’s the single best indicator of member satisfaction with our offering, and it is a leading indicator for retention and acquisition over time.”
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For now, though, Netflix disclosed the subscriber bump, which handily outpaced its previous record of 15 million new subs in one quarter (set during Q1 2020).
And, according to research firm Antenna, the Paul x Tyson fight was a significant contributor. Fans’ apparent desire to watch the younger Paul brother duke it out with the longtime heavyweight champ led to a record surge of new account signups: 1.43 million people joined Netflix in the three days around the fight.
In a letter to shareholders, Netflix confirmed that its steady lean in to live programming “has already delivered some must-watch moments.” But as we mentioned above, Netflix also appears to caution that it doesn’t plan to significantly increase its investment in live events and sports.
That’s an interesting decision, considering nearly two-thirds of sports content is now consumed on streaming, and social platforms like YouTube and even Reddit are putting serious development into getting more exclusive live sports content for their users.
Netflix, it seems, will continue focusing on scripted and unscripted originals–like Squid Game, which Bloomberg reports was also a notable contributor to Netflix’s Q4 subscriber growth. (The question is, will it be able to bring out another marquee banger after Stranger Things finishes its run later this year?)
The streamer overall reported $10.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 16% growth from Q3 2024. Per Bloomberg, that’s its largest quarter-to-quarter gain since late 2021. Netflix says it expects revenue to continue going up, driven in part by ad sales.
Netflix introduced an ad-supported streaming plan in November 2022. Its goal was twofold: first, to give people a lower-priced tier so they’d stop watching shows on their friends’ accounts instead of subscribing; and second, to tap into extra revenue by selling ads.
“We have to continue to improve all aspects of Netflix–more series and films our members love, a great product experience, increased sophistication in our plans and pricing strategy (including more advertising capabilities),” Netflix said in its shareholder letter.
That being said, Netflix is raising prices yet again in the U.S., including for the ad-supported tier. Its standard ad-free tier is going from $15.49 to $17.99/month, its premium ad-free tier is jumping $2 to $24.99, and the monthly price for having an extra member on your account (another attempt to slash password-sharing) is going from $7.99 to $8.99.
As for ad-free, it’s going up $1—the smallest increase overall, but still an increase.
We’ll see how that goes over with subscribers, but so far, it’s going over well with investors: Netflix’s stock rose 13% after earnings were announced.
Looking forward, Sarandos said Netflix will be “constantly trying to broaden our programming.” It expects revenue of $10.4 billion for Q1 2025.
