Netflix wants to make up for its financial losses by asking for more subscribers. A subscription has just been discreetly deleted, which is likely to cause great displeasure.
Netflix neglects the quality of certain movies and series and has only one thing on its mind: to rebalance its finances. In return, the company with the red N put an end to account sharing, launched a subscription with pubs and even just canceled a crazy project after an estimated $60 million investment. And in Canada, the SVOD platform has even discovered a trick that is spreading to other territories.
Netflix is changing its offerings to make you pay even more
To counteract the loss of subscribers and especially the gaps in its portfolio, Netflix has put an end to account sharing. From now on you need to pay your account and then that’s it. A technique that worked in May 2023. In three days, the video streaming service had regained 73,000 subscribers. With such a passage in force, it was obvious that some would be willing to put their hands in their pockets.
And just last month, Netflix went a step further and canceled the Essential subscription in Canada. The basic formula with no ads allows you to watch all the movies and series of your choice simultaneously in 720p on a single film. It really isn’t the best deal given the sometimes dangerous compression. In the US and UK, too, that level, which we see as $8.99, has just disappeared. In complete silence.
After The Hollywood ReporterThe sign-up page for new Netflix subscribers only offers three options. The $6.99 Ad Plan that airs 4 to 5 minutes of commercials per hour, the $15.49 “Standard” for 1080p and dual screens, and finally the “Premium” for $19.99 for 4K/HDR /Dolby Vision on four screens simultaneously.
More ads in the future?
But nobody really likes ads, and that’s Netflix’s whole strategy. By doing away with the ad-free interim offer, the giant hopes that new subscribers will fall for the most expensive formulas. Will the package for $8.99 disappear from us soon? Unless there’s a valid reason, it’s hard to imagine society not trying. Because as said above, she wants to bring in money at any cost. Even if that means losing customers and recruiting others who are more willing to pay more.
In France, the prices are as follows: “Essential with advertising” at 5.99 dollars, “Essential” at 8.99 dollars, “Standard” at 13.49 dollars and “Premium” at 17.99 dollars. If Netflix enforces its new policy, the regular “Essential” subscription could soon switch. According to the executives, the subscription with advertising would generate more revenue per subscriber than the standard. On the one hand it makes sense, but on the other hand it doesn’t, because the offer was a complete flop when it was launched.
In an interview, CEO Ted Sarandos stated that he is also eyeing a 100% ad-supported formula. “We are open to all the different models that currently exist. But we’ve been very busy this year with paid account sharing, the introduction of advertising, and all the content we’re trying to bring to our members. We’re keeping an eye on this segment, that’s for sure.”. This is what ISP Free in France has done, but you shouldn’t be choosy about the quality of the programs available for free.
