After widespread initial skepticism, Netflix’s ad plan is starting to catch on in the United States. According to data released by Bloomberg they would be about 1 million users in the States to have chosen a subscription with advertising. This mode, we recall, represents the cheapest level of the various plans offered by Netflix, and it costs in the USA $6.99 a month.
According to analyst firm Antenna19% of new Netflix subscribers in January 2023 opted for the ad-supported plan. The data obviously refer only to the US market.
Netflix’s plan with ads is rampant in the United States
The figures represent an important success for Netflix, which in November 2022, on the occasion of the launch of the new plan, had been the subject of ridicule by many users. Bloomberg underlines an important fact: users who have chosen to subscribe to the ad-supported plan are mostly new to the service. This means that Netflix members are more reluctant to downgrade their account.
Antenna’s analysis suggests that Netflix’s transition to an advertising model has been slower than major US competitors (such as HBO Max e Disney+). Disney’s platform, which in the States has a plan with advertising from December 2022, after three months it reached 36% of subscribers to this new mode. HBO Max, on the other hand, which launched the ad-supported plan in June 2021, achieved 21% in the three months. Netflix is instead stopped at 19% after three months (Bloomberg and Antenna data are all stuck in February 2023).
Despite this slow growth compared to competitors, However, Netflix has lived up to its advertisers’ predictionsafter initially failing to meet display guarantees.
Despite these data, it should be emphasized that the economic plan with Netflix advertising is still chosen by a very small niche of users. In the United States, Netflix has approximately 74 million subscribers. Of these, only 1 million would appear to have opted for the cheapest plan. However, Netflix seems confident that the numbers will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.