Every second new Netflix customer books a subscription with advertising

Netflix hesitated for a long time to integrate advertising into its streaming service. However, customers have now also taken a liking to these cheaper advertising subscriptions. According to Netflix, it now has 70 million members with advertising subscriptions – two years after their introduction. That is almost 25 percent of all subscribers. Every second new customer books a subscription with advertising.

Since the beginning of November 2022, Netflix has been offering significantly cheaper advertising subscriptions. The new tariff was launched in twelve countries, including Germany. One year later , Netflix had 15 million ad-watching subscribers. Since then, the number of Netflix customers with advertising subscriptions has risen steadily. There were 22 million in January of this year and 40 million in May, writes Variety.

Advertising subscriptions popular with new customers

In the last six months, this figure has almost doubled. Netflix now declares that the streaming service has 70 million monthly active customers with advertising subscriptions worldwide. As Netflix reported 282.7 million subscribers in October, advertising subscription customers make up almost a quarter of all members. Advertising subscriptions also appear to be popular, as 50 percent of all new customers choose this tariff, according to Netflix.

There are probably several reasons for this. Firstly, the prices of the advertising subscriptions are lower than the rates without advertising, and secondly, Netflix is increasingly taking action against account sharing, including in Germany and Austria. Customers who may share passwords are offered the opportunity to book additional members for a fee – for 5 euros per month. Netflix has recently expanded this offer and now also offers cheaper additional memberships with advertising. The additional subscription then costs only 4 instead of 5 euros. This should also increase the number of advertising subscriptions.

Netflix benefits from advertising subscriptions

For new customers, the price difference is enormous. In April of this year, Netflix recently increased its prices to up to 20 euros per month. This is the premium subscription with the best video quality (4K), HDR and 3D audio. The standard subscription with full HD streaming (1080p) now costs 14 euros. The previously cheapest basic subscription without advertising has also been canceled in Germany in order to drive more new customers to advertising subscriptions, which are offered for EUR 5 per month. This corresponds to the standard subscription, but with four to five minutes of advertising per hour.

Less than six months after the introduction of advertising subscriptions, Netflix stated that an advertising subscription generates more money per user than a customer with a standard subscription. This also manifests itself in successful advertising bookings, which Netflix now refers to. For example, the advertising slots for the two live games of the North American football league NFL were completely booked up at Christmas. Various advertising customers have been found for the upcoming second season of the TV series "Squid Game", with Kia as the exclusive partner in Korea, where the series originated.

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