Because of course, that’s what it needs. It’s really not about them canceling actually decent shows.
Netflix has been in a state of decline recently. The company recently fired 2% of its employees in the US, and now the company is projecting more losses in the upcoming months. During the first quarter of 2022, the company lost about 200,000 subscribers. One of the cited factors includes the loss of password-sharing and cancelation of actually decent original shows. The company, for instance, has been maltreating animation and would rather have something as mindless as The Boss Baby running around.
With all of that said, armed with this knowledge, what’s the best course of action? Add a subscription tier with ads! Yes, that’s the most decent solution one can come up with.
‘We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say, “Hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads,”’ co-CEO Ted Sarandos told the Cannes Lions advertising conference.
What does this mean for you as a subscriber? With every streaming service already providing an ad tier, it’s about time for Netflix to join the bandwagon. You can now pay less to watch the movies and TV shows you want, but in the middle of the movies and shows, you may see an ad popping up once in a while.
Netflix once prides itself as a platform that provides the full experience without ads, which what makes it unique among other platforms. However, even they could not resist.
While there is no word for pricing yet, in the US, HBO Max’s ad tier costs $9.99 (~Php 550) in comparison to a regular ad-free starting tier of $14.99 (~Php 826). Disney+ and Hulu are also going to launch an ad tier quite soon, which is what made Netflix steer away from its original philosophy.
If you already use an ad-free subscription tier, you won’t downgrade back to the ad tier.
Source: TimeOut