Why Netflix isn’t worried if you cancel your subscription

“Squid Game,” pictured, is one of Netflix’s most popular series, and could reel in former subscribers.

For Netflix, a canceled subscription doesn’t necessarily spell disaster. In fact, the service will probably get the subscriber back — and quickly.

Data from the analytics company Antenna provided to B-17 indicates that within six months of canceling in 2023, 50% of subscribers rejoined the streamer. Within a year, 61% of subscribers were back on the platform.

That means Netflix’s ‘”win-back curve” was steeper than the weighted average of its competitors.

All told, Antenna — which analyzed nine streaming services, including Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, and Max — found that 34% of US subscribers who canceled a service in 2023 returned to that service within six months, and 45% returned within a year.

Antenna measured win-back data for its annual “State of Subscriptions” report by looking at US cancellations initiated in 2023, excluding free tiers. The company used data from millions of transaction records, weighted to be representative of the US population.

Netflix declined to comment.

In addition to winning back subscribers, the streamer bests its rivals when it comes to churn rate, or the monthly rate of people who cancel a subscription.

Antenna has consistently pegged Netflix’s monthly churn rate at 2%, far less than the weighted average of competitors.

Netflix added a record number of subscribers last quarter — the last time it’ll be breaking out those figures — and recently pushed through another price increase.

Even if that price increase causes some subscribers to cancel, this data suggests there’s a good chance they’ll come crawling back.