Netflix has lost over 1 million subscribers alone in the past quarter and the company is in the middle shift as it prepares to launch its ad-supported tier to attract more subscribers to the streaming service. However, as the company finalizes details of the said subscription plan, more details continue to emerge, with company executives suggesting that the ad-supported tier will have some notable limitations.
Netflix’s upcoming ad-supported offering won’t include all of the content you can currently watch on the streaming service, Netflix executives said during the company’s Q2 2022 earnings interview video.
During the earnings call, Netflix executives were asked to provide details on the upcoming ad-supported tier, which it’s partnering with Microsft to provide. One question focused on how the tier would affect deals with content providers who make their movies and shows available to stream on Netflix.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during the call that if the new ad-supported tier were to launch today, Netflix would be able to include the “vast majority” of content that’s already available. “But if we launched the product today, the members in the ad tier would have a great experience. He noted that Netflix is currently in talks with studios to bring additional content to the ad-supported tier, “but certainly not all of it.” You can hear the interviewer’s question and Sarandos and Neumann’s responses in context from this timestamped link (or scrub to 18:55 in the interview video).
We’ll have to wait and see exactly what’s missing from the ad-supported tier, which Netflix said Tuesday that it aims to launch in early 2023. The upcoming tier wouldn’t be very compelling if you couldn’t watch Netflix hits like Stranger Things or Bridgerton, for example.
