Netflix’s upcoming ad-supported tier could cost between $7 and $9 per month, according to a report by Bloomberg. Depending on which plan you’re currently paying for, that could be a significant savings; the company currently offers subscriptions for $9.99, $15.49, and $19.99 per month.
After the company reported it was losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade, co-CEO Reed Hastings indicated in April that the company was ready to consider a lower-cost offer, supported by advertising, despite years of rejecting the idea of advertising. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed the ad tier was in the works in June, and Netflix announced Microsoft as the technology partner helping deliver ads in July.
Unsurprisingly, the ad-supported tier will have some downgrades from the no-ads plans; executives have said some content will be missing from the ad tier at launch, while code in the mobile app indicates that Netflix may not allow users on the ad-supported tier to download shows for offline viewing.
Bloomberg’s Friday’s report sheds light on a few details of the ad tier. The company aims to sell about four minutes worth of ads per hour and wants to run ads before and in the middle of the content. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Netflix does not intend to include ads with its children’s content or original movies. Netflix aims to launch the ad-supported plan in “half a dozen markets” in the last quarter of this year. Bloomberg say. The company plans to launch the tier more widely in early 2023.
In an email to The edgesays Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka: Bloomberg‘s report is “all just speculation at this point.” She said the company is “still in its infancy deciding how to launch a lower-priced ad-supported tier and no decisions have been made.”
The new advertising plan comes at a turbulent time. After the shocking drop in subscribers in April, Netflix reported another drop in subscribers three months later. Netflix also raised prices for all of its plans in the US in January — its third price hike in recent years — and is testing ways to convert viewers who share passwords into customers who pay for additional streams. And the company faces competition from other streaming services like Disney Plus, whose own ad-supported plan launches in December, and HBO Max, which launched a $10 ad-supported subscription in June 2021 that comes with no downloads or 4K streaming. streaming.
Update August 26, 8:17 PM ET: Updated with Netflix’s statement on the report.
