A lower, ad-supported tier for Netflix’s streaming service is reportedly going to emerge at the beginning of November as the firm works to stop the loss of more than 1 million customers in 2022.
Originally scheduled to begin in 2023, Variety claimed last week that the service had been moved up to 1 November in order to compete with Disney+’s anticipated introduction of an ad-supported tier in December.
The service from Netflix is reportedly set to debut in the US, France, Germany, Australia, and Canada among other countries, and is expected to cost between US$7 and $9. Currently, a typical Netflix subscription costs $15.49 or US$9.99 for the most basic plan.
As an addition to the current levels, the ad tier would prevent current Netflix users from seeing any advertisements.
According to a Netflix spokeswoman, no decisions have yet been taken by the business.
They stated, “We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad-supported option and no decisions have been made.”
With shares plunging 67% through the end of July, Netflix revealed a loss of 1 million customers for the second quarter of 2022, its second quarter of subscriber losses.
Greg Peters, the company’s chief operations and product officer, discussed the company’s strategy behind introducing advertising to support lower-fee memberships on the investor call in July.
Netflix, according to him, wants to “provide an incredible experience experience for consumers … who choose to take the ad-supported offering, but also provide an incredible experience for brands and advertisers who want to work with us to make sure that we’re doing a good job of elevating what that looks like for them.”
He expressed optimism that Netflix ads may “provide an experience which is fundamentally different from the ad experience” that viewers currently receive on broadcast or cable television.
When the launch was announced, Peters claimed it will focus on nations with “more mature ad markets.”
In July, Netflix made the announcement that it would collaborate with Microsoft on ad technologies and serve as a global sales partner. According to the Variety story, the two companies want US$65 for every 1,000 views, a minimum US$10 million yearly ad spend commitment from businesses, and they claim they can sign up 500,000 subscribers for the ad-supported tier by the end of 2022.
Peters stated to investors in July that first talks with advertising firms had generated “a lot of excitement.”
He said, “I think for them … they’ve wanted to connect with the titles, incredible content that [Netflix chief executive, Ted Sandros’s] team was putting out there.” “And I think we also share a perspective on what is a great experience for consumers and for advertisers.
“So when you think about the kind of advertising we see, frequency caps, what’s a great ad experience, we’re noticing a high degree of alignment there.
“So that enthusiasm, that alignment is increasing sort of my optimism and the excitement that I’ve got to basically get this out there because I think it’s going to be a win-win-win for all parties involved.”