Netflix's subscriber growth slows as Americans take a break from their screens

Netflix's coronavirus-fueled subscriber growth is slowing far faster than anticipated as people who have been cooped up at home are able to embrace other diversions besides watching streaming videos.

The company added 4 million more worldwide subscribers from January through March, its smallest gain during that three-month period in four years. The performance reported Tuesday was about 2 million fewer subscribers than both management and Wall Street analysts had predicted Netflix would add during the first quarter. It marked a huge comedown from the same time last year when Netflix added nearly 16 million subscribers. That came just as governments around the world imposed lockdowns that created a huge captive audience for the leading video-streaming service.