On November 1, 2022, Netflix launched its ad-supported subscription. This first happened in Canada and Mexico and spread to other countries in the following days. It arrived in Spain on November 10th. As the platform itself revealed in an article published on Wednesday by the company’s recently appointed advertising president, Amy Reinhard, this modality already has 15 million active users around the world every month. On the occasion of the anniversary, the platform took stock of the first year of this subscription, the cheapest it offers (5.49 euros per month in Spain) and the improvements it has prepared for the immediate and medium-term future.
Among the improvements already included is the increase in the video quality of this plan from the 720p with which it was born to 1080p and the possibility of two simultaneous playbacks. In addition, later this week it will be possible to download content and watch it without an internet connection, an option that no other streaming platform currently offers in ad-supported mode. For the first quarter of 2024, the company is announcing a new format that they are tentatively calling Binge Ad to reward marathon lovers: after watching three episodes in a row, subscribers can watch the fourth episode without ads.
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At the beginning of 2024 they will also allow the integration of QR codes in advertising in the USA. And they will expand sponsorship of titles, specific moments or live events to the rest of the world, which they are already doing in the US. For example, the reality show The Squid Game or the final season of The Crown are sponsored in the US Finally, they assure that they are working to offer advertisers more measurement functions and are looking for third-party providers to work with so that the campaign verification in the year 2024 is possible worldwide. In the United States, Nielsen is the company responsible for measuring its audience so that advertisers know the impact of their advertising investments.
This Netflix plan launched with the option to include commercials as short as 15 and 30 seconds, but that limit was expanded this year to include commercials as long as 10, 20, and even 60 seconds. For every hour of content, an average of four minutes of advertising is broadcast. They’ve also expanded the ad categories, from dating services to financial and pharmaceutical services, in addition to the targeting they offer to advertisers, who can select by time of day or demographic segments, for example. Children’s profiles are maintained without commercial interruptions.
About 30% of the new subscribers Netflix added last quarter chose the ad-supported option in the countries where it is available. In the company’s recent earnings presentation, Netflix CEO Greg Peters assured that the platform’s top priority is to increase the subscriber base of this modality. “The second priority is to bring content and products to market that advertisers want.” “We’re definitely not at the scale we wanted to be yet.” [con el plan con anuncios]“Admitted Ted Sarandos, the platform’s other CEO, on October 12th. They had already realized in the summer that it was not producing the expected benefits. That’s why they introduced these changes, including replacing a few weeks ago the person in charge of that department’s strategy, who left Jeremi Gorman to replace Amy Reinhard.
Netflix’s anniversary coincides with the launch of the ad-supported Disney+ subscription in Spain. November 1st was the day the Mickey Mouse company expanded its version with advertising to nine countries, including Spain. The price is 5.99 euros per month and allows the creation of two additional contract options: Standard (8.99 euros per month / 89.90 euros in an annual subscription) and Premium (11.99 euros per month / 119.90 euros in an annual subscription ). , both without advertising.
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