Netflix is planning to introduce adverts in new subscription plan
20 April 2022, 15:14 | Updated: 20 April 2022, 15:19
Netflix is set to offer a cheaper package after the number of subscribers dropped this year.
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Netflix could introduce adverts for the first time as part of a cheaper subscription plan.
After losing more than 200,000 customers since the beginning of the year, the streaming platform is set to bring in new rules.
During a quarterly call with investors, CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings explained that using adverts could give people more ‘choice’.
While he said he was ‘a big fan of the simplicity of subscription,’ Reed added: “But as much as I am a fan of that, I am a bigger fan of consumer choice.
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“And allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price, and are advertising-tolerant, get what they want, makes a lot of sense.”
There has never been any advertising on Netflix, with viewers able to watch their favourite shows instantly, which is built into the monthly pricing structure.
The added adverts could be bought over the next couple of years, with the business still working out what format they want to use.
Hastings said: “Think of us as quite open to offering even lower prices with advertising as a consumer choice.”
This comes after Netflix lost 200,000 global subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, with the company expecting to lose two million more this spring.
With the cost of living increasing in the UK, other streaming services have also seen the same fall in users.
Meanwhile, Netflix is also set to tackle the problem of password sharing across the globe over the next few years.
Netflix Chief Product Officer Greg Peters said: “Frankly, we’ve been working on this for about almost two years… a little over a year ago, we started doing some light test launches that…informed our thinking and helped us build the mechanisms that we’re deploying now.
“We just did the first big country tests, but it will take a while to work this out and to get that balance right.”
