The Netflix ad-supported tier is coming, and coming quite soon, and while the ads may put some subscribers off, the idea of it having licensed movies and television shows could very well tempt them back. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke during the streaming giant’s second-quarter earnings interview, and revealed that the incoming ad-supported tier may be able to offer a wider variety of movies and shows. Though he did add that, should the attempt to bring licensed products to Netflix fail, viewers will still have plenty to watch.
Obtaining licensed movies and television shows would certainly be a major advantage for Netflix’s planned ad-supported tier and could convince subscribers to switch to it, as well as potentially bring back some who have recently dropped Netflix from their viewing options. Should the tier offer nothing more than just a lower price, at the expense of being bombarded with ads, it’s difficult to imagine many being brought back into the Netflix fray.
“Today the vast majority of what people watch on Netflix we can include in the ad supported tier today. There are some things that that don’t that we we’re in in conversation with the studios on, but if we launched the product today the members in the ad tier have a great experience and we will clear some additional content but certainly not all so we’re looking but we don’t think it’s a material holdback to the business.”
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The Netflix Ad Tier Will Launch in 2023
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Rumors of an ad-supported Netflix tier have been floating around for some time, with Sarandos recently confirming that yes, soon binge-watching Stranger Things could be interrupted. “We’ve left a big customer segment off the table, which is people who say: ‘hey, Netflix is too expensive for me and I don’t mind advertising,’” Sarandos said at the event regarding the much-discussed idea of adding ads to Netflix. “We’re adding an ad tier, we’re not adding ads to Netflix as you know it today. We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say ‘hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads.’”
It has now been revealed that the ad-supported option will launch sometime in early 2023, with the platform confirming that the ad-less tier will still be an option for those who do not wish to have another layer of their lives infiltrated by adverts. “[The] lower priced advertising-supported offering will complement our existing plans, which will remain ad-free,” Netflix said in a letter to shareholders. “Our global ARM has grown at a 5% compound annual rate from 2013 to 2021, so it makes sense now to give consumers a choice for a lower priced option with advertisements, if they desire it.”
Are you one of the millions of subscribers to abandon Netflix in recent months? Would a lower-priced, ad-supported tier be enough to bring you back? If not, would the addition of licensed movies and television shows and thus more content be enough to make up for the adverts that are sure to affect the streaming experience?
