Netflix may offer cheaper ad-supported plans

During the company’s recent earnings call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said that he’s open to the idea of cheaper ad-supported subscription plans. The CEO has also said that the company will finalize details of those plans “over the next year or two.”

The company’s openness to the idea of ad-supported subscription plans comes at a time when the company lost around 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. The company blames stiffer competition, the inability to expand in some territories, and account sharing for the decline in usage share.

Many of the Netflix competitors, such as Hulu and Disney, have ad-supported subscription plans for those who don’t mind seeing advertisements while watching movies or TV shows. So, this is a tried and tested method to get more people into the platform.

However, CEO Reed Hastings clarified that it would not track user data to match ads, unlike some competitors. Hastings reaffirm that Netflix will continue to be only a publisher.

Apart from launching cheaper ad-supported plans, the company wants to crack down on account sharing by making it a paid subscription. The streaming giant started testing paid password testing a while back, but it now looks like the company is quite serious about it.

Two hundred twenty-two million households are currently using Netflix, but more than 100 million users are accessing the gargantuan Netflix library without paying for the subscription, thanks to the password sharing feature. The streaming company is testing the paid password sharing feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Netflix account owners can add two sub-members who can get their login details by paying $3.

Are you in favor of a cheaper ad-supported Netflix plan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

via Engadget