Netflix to launch cheaper ad-supported subscription tier in November

theguardian.com:

Netflix will reportedly launch a cheaper ad-supported tier for its streaming platform at the start of November as the company tries to stem the loss of more than 1 million subscribers in 2022.

The company was initially planning to start offering the service in 2023, but Variety reported last week it had been bumped to 1 November in order to get ahead of Disney+’s planned launch of an ad-supported tier in December.

According to reports, Netflix’s service will launch in the US, France, Germany, Australia and Canada among other places, and is expected to be priced between US$7 and $9. The most basic Netflix subscription now costs US$9.99 or $15.49 for a standard subscription.

The ad tier would be additional to the existing tiers, meaning current subscribers would not see any ads on Netflix.

A spokesperson for Netflix said the company had not made any decisions yet.

“We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad-supported option and no decisions have been made,” they said. “So this is all just speculation at this point.”

In July, Netflix reported a loss of 1 million subscribers for the second quarter of 2022, its second quarter of loss of subscribers, with shares falling 67% to the end of July.

On the investor call in July, the company’s chief operations and product officer, Greg Peters, revealed the company’s thinking behind introducing advertising to support lower-fee subscriptions.

He said Netflix wants to “provide an incredible experience for consumers … who choose to take the ad-supported offering, but also provide an incredible experience for brands and advertisers who want to work with us to make sure that we’re doing a good job of elevating what that looks like for them”.

He said he was