40 Million People Subscribe to Netflix's Ad-Supported Tier
Netflix's ad-supported streaming tier has 40 million global monthly active users, up 35 million from a year ago, Netflix said today at its Upfront advertising presentation. Netflix has 270 million total subscribers worldwide, so the majority of its users are still on the ad-free tiers.
Netflix resisted implementing an ad-supported tier for many years, but confirmed in 2022 that it had plans to implement a cheaper option in order to boost revenue. The Standard with ads plan launched in late 2022, and it has grown more popular as Netflix has increased the pricing of its ad-free tiers.
In the United States, the Standard with ads plan is priced at $6.99 per month for HD streaming on up to two devices at one time, with all but a "few movies and TV shows available." The basic ad-free plan is $15.49 per month, while the premium plan is $22.99 per month. Netflix's ad-supported plan does not include the option to download content for offline viewing, nor does it support spatial audio.
According to Netflix, more than 40 percent of all signups in the countries where the ad-supported plan is available are for the ads plan. More than 70 percent of Netflix's ad-supported members watch Netflix content for more than 10 hours per month, and Netflix says subscribers are twice as likely to respond to an ad compared to subscribers of other streaming services.
Since Netflix launched its ad-supported tier, it has partnered with Microsoft for ads, but in 2025, it will launch an in-house ad platform.
In addition to boosting revenue through a cheaper ad-supported option, Netflix has also cracked down on password sharing. After putting an end to multi-household account use, Netflix saw strong subscriber growth and an increase in revenue.
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