Netflix has been struggling recently as the company lost over 200,000 subscribers earlier this year, which resulted in the company’s stock going down. In an attempt to regain subscribers, Netflix has confirmed that it will launch a cheaper ad-supported plan. However, it seems that this plan won’t have the full catalog available to subscribers.
As reported by Deadline, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed that this new, more affordable plan won’t have all of the platform’s licensed content. That’s because, according to him, this requires new deals with the studios – something that may take time or may never happen.
Of course, all Netflix original movies and series will be available on this new plan. However, those who subscribe to the ad-supported plan may not be able to watch everything that is currently available on Netflix. Still, Sarandos said that the “vast majority” of content will be available in the ad-supported plan at launch.
Today, the vast majority of what people watch on Netflix, we can include in the ad-supported tier. There’s some things that don’t and we’re in conversations with the studios on but if we launched the product today, members in the ad-tier would have a great experience. We will clear some additional content but certainly not all of it but don’t think it’s a material holdback for the business.
Details on Netflix’s ad-supported plan
After several rumors, Netflix has partnered with Microsoft to launch a cheaper subscription plan supported by advertisements.
Details about this partnership are unclear at this point, but Microsoft said it will help Netflix with “technology and sales.” All ads shown to users will be based on Microsoft’s platform, and the company claims it will protect customers’ information.
Of course, this comes at a time when Netflix has been losing users around the world. Earlier this year, the platform raised subscription prices for its plans, which go as high as $19.99 per month in the US. Netflix’s cheapest plan, which only offers 480p content for a single device, costs $9.99 a month. For comparison, Apple TV+ and Disney+ cost less than $10 per month with 4K content by default.
Netflix blamed users who share their account passwords with friends and family for the decline in subscriber numbers. According to the company, more than 100 million people use Netflix without paying for a subscription. The company is now rolling out an experimental feature in Latin America that charges users who share their Netflix passwords with others.
As for the ad-supported plan, Netflix and Microsoft said it will be rolled out to customers sometime in 2023.
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