Netflix adds 8 million subscribers due in part to success of Baby Reindeer and Bridgerton

The international success of hits including Baby Reindeer and Bridgerton helped Netflix gain another quarter of revenue increases, as the streaming giant continued to draw in subscribers with ad-supported subscriptions and live events streaming.

The largest streaming service in the world added 8 million subscribers in the latest quarter, making its total subscriber count 277.7 million worldwide. Revenue grew 17% during the quarter, reaching $9.5bn.

The company said the revenue growth was driven primarily by an increase in paid memberships.

“We’re making steady progress scaling our ads business,” the company wrote in a letter to shareholders , adding that it saw a 34% growth since last quarter in new ad-tier subscribers.

Netflix noted that the UK and India had especially strong viewership slates this year, noting that 88.4 million viewers streamed Baby Reindeer.

The company has spent the last few years trying to maintain the momentum it gained during the height of the pandemic, when people were streaming more to get through quarantine. The company broke subscriber records in 2020, with 37 million new subscribers that year and surpassing 200 million worldwide subscribers.

But the company started to come under pressure in 2022 as new subscriber numbers began to drop as the pandemic waned and people started spending more eating out and going on trips.

At the end of 2022, Netflix introduced a cheaper subscription tier that incorporated advertisements. A few months later, the company announced it would crack down on password sharing, leading to a surge of new subscribers last fall.

While the company is still ahead of its competitors in terms of subscriber numbers, it has indicated it wanted to break into other types of streaming.

In May, the company announced a three-year deal with the NFL to broadcast Christmas day games on the platform. Next year, the company will start streaming World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Raw in a 10-year deal worth $5bn with the wrestling league.

In its letter to shareholders, Netflix noted that The Roast of Tom Brady, which was streamed live on the platform, “attracted our largest live audience yet”. Other upcoming live events include ones with podcast host Joe Rogan and boxers Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

The company has also announced other initiatives to build out its programming, including “ Netflix House ” – in-person programming at two malls in Texas and Pennsylvania and a new ad-tech platform that the company plans to launch in 2025.

Netflix has been trying to emphasize to Wall Street the company is measuring its success using more important metrics beyond subscriber numbers. In April, the company said it will stop reporting subscriber numbers starting next year.

“Viewing is key to Netflix’s success. It’s the best proxy we have for member happiness and when people watch more, they stick around longer,” the company told shareholders, noting that its only competitor is YouTube.

“Collectively our two services account for almost half of all streaming TV watch time in the US.”