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Netflix’s ad-supported tier is the movie streaming service’s worst-kept secret. A new report shows what it could cost when it finally launches.
It looks like some users will get some strategically placed ads during their binging experience.
A new Bloomberg report dropped details about Netflix’s ad-supported tier. According to the website, the new tier will cost between $7 and $9 per month, a significant price drop from its current $9.99, $15.49, and $19.99 offerings.
Per the report shared on Friday (Aug.26), Netflix will sell approximately four minutes of ads per hour that would be placed ahead and in the middle of content. Bloomberg also reports that kid’s content or original movies will not see any ads, and it hopes to launch the ad-supported tier in “half a dozen markets” in the final quarter of this year.
Netflix did not confirm Bloomberg’s reporting, but in an email sent to The Verge, Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka called everything the website shared on its long-rumored ad-supported tier “all just speculation at this point.” Hidaka also added, “still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad-supported tier, and no decisions have been made.”
The news of Netflix’s ad-supported tier comes after the company reported losing subscribers for the first time in over a decade.
Co-CEO Reed Hastings indicated in April that Netflix was considering a cheaper offering supported by ads, a stark position change after disregarding the idea of bringing ads to the service.
Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier Will Be Downgraded
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed in June that Netflix is working on the ad-supported tier and revealed that Microsoft is working with the streaming service to help deliver the ads.
With a lower price comes some downgrades. According to executives, some content will be missing, The Verge reports, and code spotted in the mobile app hints that users of the ad-supported tier will not be able to download content to view offline.
That might not even matter cause Netflix is currently canceling shows left and right. Just recently, Resident Evil got put on ice by the streaming service.
So at this rate, there might not be any content worth viewing outside of the final season of Stranger Things.
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