Bummer.
It looks like our Netflix and chill days won’t be so chill soon, as the platform could be introducing ads before the end of the year.
Netflix said it may bring in its lower-priced ad-supported tier by the end of 2022 – according to anonymous employees, who say they received a note from the company outlining the details.
They told The New York Times that the streaming giant plans to do this in the final three months of the year.
It will also begin to crackdown on password sharing around the same time.
Sources say the note also referred to some of Netflix’s competitors, like HBO and Hulu, for being able to “maintain strong brands while offering an ad-supported service”.
“Every major streaming company excluding Apple has or has announced an ad-supported service,” said the note. “For good reason, people want lower-priced options.”
While Netflix announced it would be introducing ads earlier this year, it was not expected that it would happen this fast.
The rush to introduce ads could to be an attempt to win back customers, as the company reported losing 200,000 subscribers globally in the first quarter of 2022. It’s predicted it will lose 2 million more this spring.
CEO Reed Hastings previously explained that introducing ads would give consumers more “choice”, as reported by Deadline.
“One way to increase the price spread is advertising on low-end plans and to have lower prices with advertising,” he said.
“Those who have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription. But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice.
“Allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price and are advertising-tolerant get what they want makes a lot of sense.
“So, that’s something we’re looking at now, we’re trying to figure out over the next year or two. Think of us as quite open to offering even lower prices with advertising as a consumer choice.”
