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There is a very small probability that one day, in some possible future, you may be able to watch Netflix through an ad-supported tier. If this ever happens, you might be able to pay less for Netflix and watch your favorite episodes with some ads between them.
Spencer Neumann, Netflix’s CFO, stated at an investor conference that although Netflix is not currently planning to introduce an ad-supported video on demand (VOD) subscription plan, the option is not fully ruled out either.
Spencer Neumann said, “It’s not like we have religion against advertising, to be clear. But that’s not something that’s in our plans right now… We have a really nice scalable subscription model, and again, never say never, but it’s not in our plan.”
Some of Netflix’s competitors are offering ad-supported subscription plans. Hulu, HBO Max, and Paramount Plus already have such a subscription plan. Even Disney Plus will roll out later this year an ad-supported tier.
In response to a question about whether Netflix is also thinking of introducing an ad-supported tier, Neumann said, “It’s hard for us to kind of ignore that others are doing it, but it now doesn’t make sense for us.” He also stated, “Some other services are going low-price, but I think they’re also losing a lot of money. Netflix is focused on building a profitable business that, in terms of free cash flow, was breakeven last year and is projected to be free cash flow positive this year.”
So, in other words, don’t expect Netflix to roll out a cheaper ad-supported subscription plan any time soon. Currently, the price of Netflix’s cheapest Basic plan is $9.99 a month, and the top tier Premium plan is $19.99 a month.
