Netflix Eyeing Ad-Supported Plans; Subscribers Threaten to Quit if Such Feature Added to the Platform

Netflix has revealed that it is now open to the possibility of launching the platform with ad-supported plans to offer lower-priced tiers.

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings has long been opposed to adding commercials or other promotions to the platform. However, he said during the company's prerecorded earnings conference that it "makes a lot of sense" to offer customers a cheaper option, according to a CNBC News report.

Hastings said that those who have followed Netflix know that he has been against the "complexity of advertising and is a big fan of the simplicity of subscription."

He added that he is a much bigger fan of consumer choice, and allows consumers to have a lower price.

Netflix has recently cited growing competition from recent streaming launches by traditional entertainment companies, as well as widespread password sharing.

Netflix has increased its content spend in an effort to pull in more subscribers. The company increased the prices of its service to pay for it.

The video-streaming platform said that those charges are helping improve revenue but were partially the reason behind the loss of 600,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada during the most recent quarter.

Subscribers on Netflix Ad-Supported Plan

Michael Donohoe, the head of product at digital magazine Rest of World, claimed that the decision by Netflix would actively be against the intention of the subscription model, according to a Newsweek report.

Donohoe tweeted and said that he has been a member since 2006. However, he would leave the platform if the company decides to add commercials.

Editor at Large for Wired Steven Levy tweeted that he is not interested in Netflix with ads, adding that there is a limit to the monthly subscription fee.

Levy then said not to make nine-figure blockbusters.

Alex Morash, the editor in chief of Options Magazine, tweeted that he will not pay for a streaming service that includes ads, full stop.

Morash said that he would rather watch nothing at all.

Netflix Losing Subscribers

Netflix has disclosed that it fell far short of its own low expectations of 2.5 million-subscriber adds for the start of 2022, according to a Hollywood Reporter report.

The streaming platform has a bulk of its subscribers in almost every region except for the Asia Pacific market, wherein it saw an increase of over one million subscribers.

Subscriber loss in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa was recorded to be at 300,000, while the loss in Latin America was at 350,000.

Netflix forecasted that it will lose an additional two million subscribers.

CFO Spencer Neumann said that it will pull back some of its content spendings over the next two years to increase its revenue earnings.

Neumann said that they are withdrawing some of their spending growth across both content and non-content spending.

The Netflix CFO said that they are trying to be smart about it to reflect the realities of the revenue growth of the business.

Wall Street already projected low expectations for Netflix due to the company's weak performance in Q4.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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