Netflix likely to offer several ad-supported tiers: Ted Sarandos
Entertainment
Netflix likely to offer several ad-supported tiers, says Ted Sarandos
(CNBC) - After a challenging year of subscriber losses, Netflix appears to have stopped the bleeding for now. With 223 million subscribers and a new ad-supported tier designed to bring in more price-sensitive viewers, the service seems to be on the rebound. But increased competition has the company looking over its shoulder, and co-CEO Ted Sarandos says more changes are on the way.
In an interview at UBS Global TMT Conference, Sarandos said the company is just scratching the surface of what it means to have an ad-supported tier. "We have multiple tiers today," Sarandos said, "so it’s likely there’ll be multiple ad tiers over time, but nothing to talk about yet."
Until this year’s release of the ad-supported tier, the company was famously averse to advertising, but falling subscriptions and a stock price in freefall led to a reversal.
If Netflix does offer a second ad-supported tier, it would become a pioneer in that space. Right now, other services like HBO Max and Hulu offer just one ad-supported product. If Netflix added another ad-supported tier, it might have users choose between a less expensive plan with multiple ad breaks or a slightly more expensive plan where the ads only appear before the movie or show.
