New Delhi: We knew that Netflix would be introducing cheaper ad-supported plans and now, reports suggest that the streaming giant could roll them out in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022. The company has told its employees that it intends to introduce an ad-supported plan by the end of this year and this comes quicker than what was previously indicated.
Earlier last month, Netflix announced that it would bring changes to the platform that include low-cost plans with advertisements and minimise password sharing. According to a New York Times report, Netflix told its employees in a note that it was aiming to introduce the ad tier in the last three months of the year, two people who shared details of the communication said on condition of anonymity.
It is highly likely that Netflix starts putting a ban on password sharing among its subscribers around the same time, the report added. Netflix had avoided the idea of putting checks on password sharing but last month, it has hinted that the looming change may arrive soon.
The company had hinted at the possible changes after registering a loss in subscribers for the first time in a decade. It had cited factors such as sluggish economic growth, inflation and geopolitical events such as the Russia-Ukraine war for the loss of subscribers. The streaming giant had announced that it ended the first quarter of this year with 221.6 million subscribers and the APAC region, which includes India that added 1.09 million paid members in the region.
"Those who have followed Netflix know that I have been against the complexity of advertising, and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription," company co-CEO Reed Hastings had said during an earnings conference call.
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"But as much as I am a fan of that, I am a bigger fan of consumer choice. And allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price, and are advertising-tolerant, get what they want makes a lot of sense," Hastings had added.