Netflix Ads Could Be Coming Sooner Than You’d Think
They're also keen to crack down on password sharing.
Netflix ads might arrive as soon as this year, according to a new report from The New York Times.
Last month, the streaming giant reported a drop in subscribers for the first time in a decade, losing about AUD$80 billion of its value. The news led to CEO Reed Hastings saying that the company would consider adding commercials to its service, after refusing to do so for several years.
Well, as it turns out, those changes might be coming sooner than later, with the company reportedly sending employees a note about aiming to introduce an ad plan in the final three months of the year. The note reportedly also said that the company would start cracking down on password sharing.
“Those who have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription,” Hastings reportedly said on a call last month. “But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice. And allowing consumers who like to have a lower price, and are advertising tolerant, get what they want makes a lot of sense.”
The Australian Financial Review reports that while Australians would be open to subscribing to an “ad-supported tier” of a streaming service like Netflix or Disney+, research indicates they would only do so if they got a discount of at least 20 percent.
“The assumption here is ‘I’m paying $9 a month for this particular streaming service, if they’re going to introduce ads, then I’ll pay more to not have ads, ” Chief Executive of the research company Pureprofile told the publication. “But in fact, people are saying, ‘I would expect to pay less because now it’s been subsidised by advertisers’.”