Sensor Tower On The Small Screen

Netflix smashed records for paid subscriber additions in 4Q24, as QoQ growth in reported memberships accelerated vs the prior quarter, which was directionally in line with Sensor Tower’s mobile app MAUs for the streamer. On a YoY basis, Max posted best-in-class user growth, driven by international expansion over the past year. Although Netflix’s ad network exhibited YoY US ad spend share increases from popular advertiser verticals such as Auto, Software and Telecom in 4Q24, Hulu commanded the highest share of overall OTT ad spend amongst top spending verticals. The imminent roll-out of Netflix’s in-house ad tech stack in 2Q25 could make the platform more attractive to advertisers.

Key Takeaways:

ST data shows that Max led its peers in growing mobile app MAUs across the past year as it boasted triple-digit YoY growth in 4Q24, bolstered by expansion into new geos such as Southeast Asia, LatAm and Europe. Peacock, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Hulu saw single-digit YoY declines in MAUs in 4Q24
Reported growth in Netflix’s global streaming paid memberships in 4Q24 accelerated 5ppts vs the prior quarter, in line with a 6ppts acceleration in ST mobile app MAUs for Netflix. Given that the company will no longer report global streaming paid memberships from 1Q25-forward, leveraging ST’s mobile app MAU data for Netflix will be critical to properly estimating membership growth
Aligning with its transmedia strategy of having multiple consumer touchpoints across its programming, Netflix launched a mobile game inspired by its Squid Game IP that coincided with the release of the show’s second season. Nearly 50 days post-launch, Squid Game: Unleashed has accumulated more than 18mn app downloads, vs 12mn, 3mn and 1mn for GTA San Andreas, Too Hot to Handle: Love is a Game and Stranger Things: 1984, respectively, in the same post-launch period, demonstrating that the title has outperformed Netflix’s other popular (original and licensed) mobile game titles in app adoption
Netflix saw YoY spend share increases from advertisers in the Media & Entertainment (+5ppts), Telecom (+4ppts), Auto (+3ppts), Software (+2ppts) and Food & Dining Services verticals (+1ppts) in 4Q24, though it commands a much smaller share of overall US OTT ad spend compared to its peers
- Per ST data, the top ten spending advertiser verticals across all OTT allocated almost half (46%) of their US spend towards Hulu, far outpacing their investment in Peacock (15%), Pluto TV (13%), Tubi (12%), Netflix (5%) and Paramount+ (5%)

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Written by: Abraham Yousef, Senior Insights Analyst

Date: February 2025