Netflix has announced that its membership growth has exceeded its expectations and advertisers are “extremely positive” in their reaction to the new $6.99 Basic with Ads tier.
In a letter to shareholders, Netflix said that “after a challenging first half, we believe we’re on a path to reaccelerate growth.”
In APAC, for example, the company’s revenue grew 19 per cent and the average paid memberships rose 23 per cent year-over-year. Netflix says it added 1.4 million paid memberships in APAC – though this was down from 2.2 million in Q3 2021.
Whether that continued growth extends as the Basic with Ads plan rolls-out, remains to be seen.
However, Netflix says that the plan, with around five minutes of advertising per hour, frequency capping, and “strong privacy protections” has already proven “extremely positive” with advertisers.
The company also said that it believes that more choice, “especially for more price conscious consumers, will translate into meaningful incremental income.”
Similarly, Netflix believes its new profile transfer feature should help get more people off free plans and into paying plans, as sharers can manage their devices more easily and create sub-accounts if they want to pay for family or friends. The company says that it expects the new $6.99 ad-supported tier and the profile transfer option will play nicely together as users look for more ways to scrimp and save.
