At the conclusion of the previous year, Netflix experienced a significant surge in sign-ups as customers, encouraged by the company's enforcement of password-sharing policies, established personal accounts.
More than 13.1 million subscriptions were added to the streaming colossus during the three months ending in December.
That was the highest quarterly total since 2020, continuing a run of expansion that commenced the previous year.
Netflix stated that it was optimistic about its development trajectory and intended to increase prices.
"Prices were essentially frozen during the implementation of paid sharing." "We are now able to return to our customary approach," Greg Peters, co-chief executive officer, said on a call with analysts to discuss the company's most recent quarterly report.
"The possible synopsis would be 'business resumes as usual'."
Several new members chose the most affordable plan offered by the company, unaffected by the possibility of encountering advertisements.
Netflix stated that the plan accounted for 40% of new subscribers in the 12 countries where it displays advertisements, which includes some of its largest markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
The gains are an ironic turn of events for a company that has for years refused offers to sell advertisements, arguing that doing so would negatively impact the viewing experience and complicate its operations with privacy concerns and other issues.
However, an unanticipated decline in subscribers and profits during the first half of 2022 startled the company, compelling it to seek out novel approaches to attract new viewers and increase revenue.
In addition to advertisements and the password enforcement, the platform is experimenting with live events in an effort to attract new audiences.
It announced a 10-year, $5 billion (£3.9 billion) agreement on Tuesday to bring WWE Raw, the most popular weekly show in professional wrestling, to the platform.
A considerable number of its competitors are undertaking comparable actions.
For instance, Amazon is endeavouring to enhance the amount of live sports events it offers. Additionally, beginning this month, advertisements will be displayed to Prime members while they watch, unless they pay an additional $2.99 per month.
The standard Netflix plan with advertisements costs £4.99 per month in the United Kingdom and $6.99 per month in the United States, compared to £10.99 and $15.49 without.
It stated that it did not anticipate advertising to significantly contribute to growth this year.
However, the programme has generated enthusiasm on Wall Street due to the possibility that supplementing subscription revenue with ad sales could increase the company's per-account earnings.
Netflix initially suggested that the strategy was gaining momentum when it announced earlier this month that it had surpassed 23 million accounts, up from 15 million in November.
Analysts were cautious that sign-ups would suffer in the absence of a breakthrough single, but the number of new subscribers it acquired during the quarter also caught them off guard.
Netflix stated that it had provided a robust selection of programming, which included comedy successes such as Adam Sandler's Leo and the Beckham documentary series.
On Tuesday, the platform was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, one of which was "Best Picture" for the Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan film Maestro.
