The Angels – Netflix is studying the possibility of offering a subscription model with ads in exchange for a lower price, an option that would be available “over the next year or two,” according to its co-founder, Reed Hastings.
The proposal arose during a virtual intervention addressed to its investors, after announcing that the platform has lost 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2022, a period in which it obtained net profits of 1,597 million dollars, lower than the 1,706 of the previous year .
“Those who have followed Netflix know that I have always been against the complexity of and in favor of the simplicity of a subscription,” admitted Hastings, who, faced with the loss of clients, was in favor of changing principles.
“I’m even more of a fan of giving consumers choice, and allowing customers who want a lower choice and tolerate ads to get it makes a lot of sense. It is something that we will address throughout the next year or two, ”she confirmed.
Other competing platforms in the US, such as Hulu and HBO Max, have cheap subscription options that interrupt TV shows and movies for short ad breaks.
Immediately after the company announced its first reduction in the number of clients in a decade on Tuesday, its shares fell 28% in electronic operations after the closing of the New York parks.
The company linked its stagnation to the appearance of new competitors, such as Disney and Apple, but also recalled that the suspension of its service in Russia resulted in the loss of 700,000 subscribers from that country.
If that decision had not been made, the balance for this quarter would have been different, with 500,000 new users, the company insisted, still far from the growth forecasts that had been set for the start of the year, with 2.5 million new customers.
Inflation, political instability due to the war in Ukraine and the stoppage of filming due to the impact of the coronavirus are other reasons with which Netflix justified its results.
Likewise, Netflix admitted that the possibility it offers its users to share an account between several households is significantly reducing its growth.
According to its internal data, in addition to the almost 222 million active payment accounts on Netflix, another 100 million households access with the credentials of another user.
“We have to make them pay to some extent for it,” Hastings said.
Last month, the company started a pilot program in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru that will charge an additional amount to users who share their account credentials with people who live outside the household.
At the moment there is no news of its implementation in other markets.