Netflix seems determined to test consumers’ price-value tolerance, raising by $2 the price of its premium tier, now $24.99 per month, while raising the cost of the standard ad-supported tier by $1, to $7.99 per month. Its approach is so far working. The news came with an earnings report that indicated new subscribers rose by 18.9 million in Q4, a 44 percent increase to 302 million worldwide members on close of 2024. For the year, revenue grew 16 percent and operating income expanded six points to 27 percent, exceeding $10 billion for the first time in company history.

The Wall Street Journal reports the markets responding favorably, with Netflix shares rising 13 percent in after hours trading Tuesday, with forward-looking guidance increasing slightly.

Operating income (profit) grew by 52 percent in Q4, according to the earnings report. “Our Q4 slate outperformed even our high expectations,” according to the company’s shareholder letter.

“‘Squid Game’ season 2 is on track to become one of our most watched original series seasons, ‘Carry-On’ joined our all-time Top 10 films list, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight became the most-streamed sporting event ever and on Christmas Day we delivered the two most-streamed NFL games in history,” the letter adds.

WSJ reports the Paul-Tyson boxing match “drew 60 million households globally despite technical hiccups.”

The football games “averaged more than 24 million U.S. viewers each, peaking at 27 million for Beyoncé’s halftime show during the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans matchup,” WSJ writes, noting that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during the analyst call that despite such success “the rising costs of sports rights make it challenging to do more than one-time games.”

Nielsen’s The Gauge delivers an extensive analysis of holiday viewing highlights, in which “the fifth and sixth top telecasts belonged to Netflix in its NFL debut on Christmas Day.”

Netflix also raised its standard ad-free tier from $15.49 to $17.99 per month, according to The Verge, which says “the price hikes will go into effect during subscribers’ next billing cycle.”

CNET reports that Netflix also “introduced a new type of extra member account: extra members with ads,” for $6.99 per month “as a way to pay more for an additional person located in a different household.”

Adding extra, non-household members paid for on one’s own account requires an ad-free master account, either standard or premium, CNET says, noting “premium subscribers can add up to two slots, and standard customers get one. Extra members have a separate account and password.”