Following a period of significant subscriber gains spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in the year, Netflix is now experiencing a moderation in its growth rate.

The streaming platform reported 15.77 million new subscribers during the first quarter, and then 10.09 million in the second quarter. Their initial projection for the third quarter was 2.5 million.

The latest earnings report indicates the company did not meet even this reduced expectation, adding only 2.2 million subscribers, which brings the total subscriber count to 195 million. The forecast for the fourth quarter anticipates 6.0 million net additions, a decrease compared to the 8.8 million gained during the same timeframe last year.

“As previously communicated in our investor updates, we anticipated that our exceptional first-half subscriber growth would lead to a slower pace of expansion in the latter half of the year,” the company stated in its shareholder letter. “Achieving our current forecast would result in a record 34 million paid net additions for 2020, exceeding our previous annual high of 28.6 million in 2018.”

The company also noted that subscriber retention remains strong and that engagement levels per member household have increased compared to the previous year.

While the pandemic likely accelerated Netflix’s user acquisition, it also necessitated a pause in film and television production to ensure safety. This resulted in a slower release schedule, although Netflix was less affected due to its extensive content library.

With production now underway again, the company reports having completed filming for over 50 productions since mid-March, and plans to finish principal photography on an additional 150 productions by the end of the year.

The fourth season of “Stranger Things,” the second season of “The Witcher,” and the action film “Red Notice” (featuring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds) have all resumed production.

The announcement also included viewership figures for several titles released in the last quarter: 43 million subscribers watched the latest season of “The Umbrella Academy,” 48 million chose to watch “Ratched,” 38 million selected “The Social Dilemma,” and 78 million viewed the Charlize Theron action movie “The Old Guard.” (It is important to note that Netflix’s “chose to watch” metric represents the number of subscribers who watched at least two minutes of a program.)

Update: During an investor interview, Co-CEO Ted Sarandos discussed the current status of production, stating that the company is “almost completely operational in most regions globally.” He expressed confidence that the service will be able to release its planned 2021 content as scheduled, with only a few minor delays.

Sarandos also acknowledged that Netflix has experienced temporary production halts due to positive COVID-19 tests, but indicated this was to be expected: “The key is how quickly and safely we can resume operations.”