Netflix is letting people without a subscription watch 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' to try to boost sign-ups - the first time the streaming service has offered a free movie
- Netflix is offering a free movie in the US to try and entice people to subscribe to watch the sequel. The strategy is a variation of an incentive Netflix previously used with shows in other countries.
- Netflix US subscriber growth missed analysts' targets during the past three quarters, and offering a free movie is the newest attempt to bolster US subscriptions, which fell below expectations for the quarter.
- Slowing subscription rates in the US follow Netflix's price increase last year and the release of competing streaming services such as Disney Plus.
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Netflix is offering a free movie, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," until Mar. 9 to entice people to subscribe and watch the sequel which was released on the streaming service Wednesday.
The offer to watch free, original Netflix content is a strategy the company used before in the UK with shows such as "The Crown" and other regional shows in Mexico, Colombia, and India. But this latest promotion marks the company's first attempt to use the strategy with a film in the US.
The evolving marketing strategy follows the company's fourth-quarter earnings report which showed slowing rates of new US subscribers. Analysts were expecting Netflix to gain more than 602,250 new subscribers in the US, however, the company gained 420,000 subscribers in the quarter.
Despite the slowing growth of Netflix's US subscriber base during the past three quarters, the company pulled in 8.33 million subscribers internationally during its fourth quarter, blowing past analysts' expectations of 7.15 million.
The drop in US subscriber growth also follows the service's price increase in 2019, as well as intensifying competition with the release of Disney Plus in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and The Netherlands.
