Netflix Launches New Cheaper, Ad-Supported Subscription Plans; Joins Forces With Microsoft

Netflix and Microsoft have partnered up to launch the first ad-supported subscription of Netflix. 

Netflix, in a recent note to its employees, had told that the company could introduce its lower-priced ad-supported tier by the end of the year. 

Netflix And Microsoft To Launch Ad-Based Subscriptions

Although it’s still not known when the new ad-supported model will launch, both firms revealed the most recent information in their own blogs. The subscription’s specifics have not yet been disclosed.

Microsoft claims to be “thrilled” to be chosen as Netflix’s sales and technology partner. Marketers who use Microsoft for their advertising requirements will get access to linked TV inventory and the Netflix audience. The only way to access any of the advertisements displayed on Netflix will be through the Microsoft platform.

As per Netflix COO Greg Peters, “It’s very early days, and we have much to work through. But our long-term goal is clear: More choice for consumers and a premium, better-than-linear TV brand experience for advertisers.”

According to Netflix, both new and existing subscribers would still have access to its current ad-free basic, standard, and premium plans.

To launch the ad-supported subscription model, Netflix began discussions with Warner Bros, Universal, and Sony Pictures Television. It might imply that only a small number of films from its in-house production division and major Hollywood studios will be included in the new model, rather than the whole archive. But this is simply conjectured, and further information is needed.

200,000 Netflix Users Closed Their Accounts In 90 Days

In April, we reported that Netflix shares plunged 25% in extended trading as pioneering streaming service suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade, having concerns that may have already seen its best days.

That being said, the American streaming firm’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period, as mentioned in its quarterly earnings report released Tuesday. 

For the first time, Netflix’s subscribers have fallen since the streaming service became available throughout most of the world outside of China six years ago. 

This drop is also affected by Netflix’s decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine. Thus resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers.