Netflix has reportedly told employees it plans to roll out an ad-supported tier by the end of this year, sooner than expected. Additionally, Netflix's plan for an extra fee to fight password-sharing would roll out around the same time.
In a note to employees, "Netflix executives said that they were aiming to introduce the ad tier in the final three months of the year," according to a New York Times report on Tuesday. The memo "also said that they were planning to begin cracking down on password sharing among its subscriber base around the same time."
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings last month said the company plans to launch a lower-priced subscription tier with ads and will continue offering ad-free options. Hastings didn't seem to think the ad-supported tier would roll out in 2022, saying it is something "we're trying to figure out over the next year or two."
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday May 21 2022, @02:41PM (3 children)
I really hate subscriptions. Feels like I'm being ripped off if I use it for only a few hours. If Netflix and similar want to impress me, how about they offer to take less for those months in which the subscriber doesn't use the service much or at all? Instead of inventing new excuses to charge more money, why not modify the system to charge less, for less use, and pitch that as another selling point?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday May 21 2022, @03:18PM (2 children)
Yeah, buddy, and try to get your local gym to do that too, while you're at it.
Gyms will sell you a day pass, typically something like three day passes buys a one month membership and 10 day passes will buy a one year membership. That's how they make their money.
With Netflix, sure they'll give you some movies that cost them $1.50 when you watch them, but truth is: most of the crap you're going to stream costs them nothing, or next to nothing. And the whole motivation for "Netflix studios" is that they don't pay per-viewing royalties, so rewatch all you like, suckers!
We moved cross country in 2006 and just didn't bother to turn off Netflix, always thinking we'd sit down and watch those DVDs "real soon now." To anyone who was trying to get the one available copy of "Silent Running" between May and November of 2006, my sincere apologies.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 22 2022, @12:31PM
No, it's fine. You actually did me a favor.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday May 22 2022, @07:26PM
Gyms usually sell full-year memberships, but most full-year customers only use the for a few weeks and then don't bother to come back. That's how gyms survive.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @02:55PM
that's okay if they use the monies to make a channel: "hugo awards! now as real movies!(*)"
(*) some CGI applies.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @03:10PM (3 children)
Now that Netflix has rid their house of all the SJW vermin, there's probably going to be some normal stuff worth watching again.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @03:48PM
But has Netflix rid their house of all the fat, whiny incel vermin? The ones crying about their own victimhood?
Those incels are snakes, so they are almost impossible to get rid of.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @04:45PM
I wouldn't count on it. Meanwhile, every piece of cahntent they bankroll can be pirated.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @10:01PM
Doubtful. Does their catalog still include the "Cuties" groomer-bait?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday May 21 2022, @03:22PM (17 children)
I have a sinking feeling that ad-free Netflix is going to creep up to double or triple the current price over the next 5-10 years... I'll never pay ANYONE to stream me ads, not on audio and certainly not on video, and I suppose Netflix is on their way to making me pay for that "luxury."
On the other hand, there's a vast population out there who will put up with just about anything to save a buck (witness: "free" timeshare weekends with a short sales pitch required...) they _think_ they're beating the system, but the big picture says that the system more often beats them.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @04:36PM (8 children)
That's one of the issues I had with Hulu. We get to pay, and to watch ads. If I'm going to pay, then I shouldn't have them wasting my time and energy on ads. If I have to pay and get ads, I'll be quitting. I may periodically resubscribe to catch up on content if any I'm interested is released, but I certainly don't want to encourage this kind of profiteering.
(Score: 5, Informative) by mhajicek on Saturday May 21 2022, @06:18PM (6 children)
Cable TV used to be ad free way back in the day. That was a primary sales pitch.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by https on Saturday May 21 2022, @07:18PM (1 child)
It's inevitable. Marketers can't help but see everything as an advertising opportunity. Even fuckiing well going to the bathroom [ecoprod.co.uk].
Hint: saying "People are receptive to washroom advertising and they like it" marks you as a sociopath, out to destroy society as long as you get a cut of the action.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by NateMich on Saturday May 21 2022, @08:17PM
That's an interesting activity, even without ads playing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @08:48PM (2 children)
I've heard that, but by the time my parents got cable in the mid-80s, it already had ads. But, then again, it was mostly just local programming with better reception, so I guess the cable was ad free of sorts. But, then again, it was also like $5 a month and roughly triple the number of channels as we could see otherwise.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday May 21 2022, @09:35PM (1 child)
Anybody remember the SNL skit on Steve Jobs with the iPod that holds 5,000 songs, and the next model that will hold 20,000 songs, and the one in development that will hold 100,000 songs, etc ?
Cable channels have gone like that: 3 to 8 to 24 to 125 to 700+ channels, and there is still nothing worth watching on any of them... Particularly because 90% are filled with ads and 9% are pay per view, and the 7 remaining channels are either reruns or content you wouldn't want to watch in the first place.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 22 2022, @08:45PM
You forgot the 30% that are variants of the Home Shopping Channel.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday May 21 2022, @09:28PM
Yep, and when I moved into my first house it took them 7 months to get around to shutting off the access to cable. I watched some cable with ads while it was free, but never saw any reason to pay for that.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by Moof123 on Sunday May 22 2022, @02:08AM
Yep, ads served up after I already paid for premium was the final straw for us. I don’t miss Hulu. Good riddens.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Saturday May 21 2022, @05:04PM (7 children)
Same here. I'll pay for no ads. I might watch for free with ads, but not likely. But I will NOT pay for ads.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by dalek on Saturday May 21 2022, @09:49PM (6 children)
I don't see this as inherently being a problem. Netflix has specific costs to operate their service such as licensing fees, production costs for original programming, servers, network connectivity, and personnel. If they're going to stay in business, they have to pay their bills. They have to at least break even, if not come out a bit ahead and be profitable. Realistically, this dictates how much they need to charge subscribers. It's completely reasonable to offer subscribers an option to pay that entire cost without ads while also offering tiers with varying degrees of advertising and lower prices. If they can't completely offset their costs with the fee they charge a subscriber, the rest can be made up through advertising. I don't see a problem here.
It's for each customer to decide how much Netflix's programming is worth to them, and how much it's worth to each customer to avoid seeing ads. They're trying to appeal to people who might be less willing to spend the full price of a subscription but would tolerate some ads. With the ridiculous proliferation of streaming services and associated rising costs for customers to subscribe to more services, this seems like an effort to offer lower subscription fees with a tradeoff of showing ads. I don't see a problem with that. I don't like ads, either, but I'm much more annoyed of the proliferation of streaming services. Personally, Netflix hasn't been worth it to me for several years, particularly as they lost the streaming rights to many of the shows that I could have watched. Besides, the time I actually have available to watch TV tends to be spent watching live sports.
I will plug ESPN's coverage of F1 in the US. There are no commercials during races, only a small unobtrusive sponsor logo that appears once in awhile in the upper-right corner. Qualifying sessions have commercials, but only in between rounds, so you don't miss any action with cars on track. Practice sessions have like two commercial interruptions during the hour-long sessions, which isn't bad at all. F1 ratings have also been skyrocketing in the US. The lack of ads isn't the only reason for this, but it sure helps.
THIS ACCOUNT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Saturday May 21 2022, @10:09PM (4 children)
The problem with allowing ANY advertising is that it is a slippery slope. Once you open that door you can never close it again. The ads will increase and increase over time until you end up with what Cable TV was in the 2000s.
I understand they need to make money to produce or license content and operate their infrastructure. It's not a magical free service.
I will pay. Or I will watch ads (not likely). If they price themselves out of the market, then too bad. There are quite a few streaming service alternatives these days. All of them want to charge as high of prices as possible. On the other hand consumers have to decide on how much they want to spend on entertainment. And on what types of entertainment. THere ARE alternatives to sitting in front of the TV and eating junk food. One could instead choose something much more healthy such as playing video games and eating junk food.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Reziac on Sunday May 22 2022, @02:22AM (3 children)
Here's a idea to both let you know what you're getting, and to discourage ads creeping up to take up the whole hour:
For each tier, STATE how many minutes of ads there will be per hour. No more, no less, no changes.
As a bonus, they'll soon figure out how much subscribers are willing to put up with, or pay for, much more fine-grained than just ads or more ads.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Sunday May 22 2022, @03:33PM (2 children)
For me, the answer will be that I either pay to watch with zero ads, or I might (unlikely) watch free with ads.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday May 22 2022, @03:52PM (1 child)
Good answer, but my scheme really is to address -- for that free-with-ads, do you get 20 minutes of content and 40 minutes of ads?? if people know exactly how much of their hour will be wasted, they can make a better choice. That choice might be to abandon Netflix for something that offers, say, 10 minutes of ads for 50 minutes of content.
[And would incentivize everyone to squeeze that advertising back down to the level of TV in the 1960s, rather than totally taking over what used to be time for content.]
I started blocking ads on Youtube when they started feeding me 30 minute unskippable ads (shitty boring informercials at that) before I could watch 5 minutes of not-worth-it content.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Sunday May 22 2022, @04:07PM
I agree that information up front would be useful for people who will tolerate free with ads.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @01:02AM
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Seriously? You think that's actually going to happen? No, the idiot market just discovered that Netflix (like any real-world company) can't grow forever, so they delivered a hell of a "correction" to Netflix's stock price. Netflix may have been considering ads before, but now they're going to become essential to keep propping up the service.
MAYBE you'll see a low tier give a discount for ads for a year or two.. maybe... then they'll hike that back up to the lowest prices now, and the "no ads" tiers will rise accordingly.
This is all about keeping idiot "infinite growth" investors happy for another few years. Not about customers and choice, as much as you want to sell it that way.
Is there anything wrong with giving customers that choice for ads, rather than hiking everyone's subscription cost? No, of course not... if people are willing to put up with ads, I guess offer it. No way in hell I'm paying for streaming with ads, though, personally. If the "no ads" prices get too high, I'll just cancel, despite being a loyal Netflix subscriber going back to 2002.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by mcgrew on Saturday May 21 2022, @04:25PM
History repeats itself: This is Blockbuster [mcgrew.info] all over again. Like them, they were first. Like them, their competition is cheaper and better. Like them, they will die, unless they chabge course right now, but I don't see greed letting that happen.
Greed killed Blockbuster. It will kill Netflix.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday May 21 2022, @05:12PM (3 children)
Bu-bye Netflix.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2022, @11:07PM (2 children)
If the prices don't change significantly then it is not a problem, though really an advertising version should be free. Uf the regular account price doesn't change then I'd have no problem with an ad version. Again, no way they'll keep pricing or offer a free account with ads.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 22 2022, @12:54AM (1 child)
Even at free, it affects how their originals are written to accommodate the ads.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 22 2022, @08:49PM
I'm not sure that is true. Netflix doesn't have to fit their content into the old 30/60 minute format that broadcast TV used so many years ago. Episodes can just be ;longer with the ads without impacting the content.
(Score: 4, Informative) by mrpg on Sunday May 22 2022, @12:35AM
https://tubitv.com/home [tubitv.com]
Free movies with ads, you don't even need to create an account. I use noscript and ublock origin so no ads for me. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now. It has geoblocking, so I see different movies if I connect from outside the USA.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 22 2022, @02:54PM
unlike broadcast (thru so-far-still-free-air or a cable) with internet streaming you get:
Time
ID (account holder with real name if paying with a credit/debit-card. gift cards just have a email to intentify.)
Content-ID-number (which movie)
prolly some more stuff?
again, whats with all the misnomer? nothing is MEOR streaming then thru the air or cable broadcast. they just connect a media player to a antenna/emitter and press play. voila: streaming!
what is named "streaming" is more like "please report in, sign this form and activate the front facing camera (your ip), tap the clock" before watching movies...streaming?
it's shit you can throw at advertisers when you want their monies.
and since netflix is not wholly (or at least majority) owned by a movie visionary, it's the stockholders and the forever-quest of good dividends that are making the decisions ...
maybe netflix is in trouble cause too many movies have renewable energy machines in the background and that pisses some people off?
how about ...hmmm... handsome korean nuclear engineer with a first date with a nuclear cooling tower as a backdrop?
for that matter, i don't get why the korean soaps don't have more stories around gas-stations? i mean they always pick the guy that has more coupons for it ... guy working at petrol station is like smack-tat right next to the tap! maybe a show smack-down between petrol guy and makeup manufacturing guy?