Netflix subscriber numbers on the rise

Growing subscribers: The Netflix menu is shown on a screen in Pittsburgh. The streaming giant posted its third-quarter results a few weeks before it launches a cheaper version of its video streaming service that will include ads for the first time. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Netflix reports that it gained more than two million subscribers in the recent quarter, calming investor fears that the streaming giant was losing paying customers.

The company said it ended the third quarter with slightly more than 223 million subscribers worldwide, up some 2.4 million, after seeing subscriber ranks ebb during the first half of the year.