Netflix Calls Report Of November Ad Tier Debut And Hefty Rate Demands “Speculation”

deadline.com:

Netflix has batted down a report about aggressive moves in its rollout of a cheaper ad-supported tier as “speculation.”The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified ad buyers who have been meeting in recent days with Netflix, reported that the company plans to charge a CPM (meaning the rate for advertisers to reach 1,000 viewers) of $65.

That pricing, which the report said could ramp to $80 once the concept of ad-supported Netflix becomes more established, was described as “substantially higher than most other streaming platforms.”Contrary to Netflix’s estimates in July that it would launch the ad-backed plan in early 2023, the Journal also said buyers indicated the true goal is November 1.“We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad supported tier and no decisions have been made,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement provided to Deadline. “So this is all just speculation at this point.”Netflix’s scramble to capture a chunk of the tens of billions spent each year on streaming ads is designed to provide a hedge against subscriber saturation and flattening revenue.

For years, executives insisted they had no plans to accept advertising, with co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings emphasizing at the time his concerns about subscribers’ privacy.

That all changed in April as the company reported a surprising decline in subscribers, a setback it had not encountered in more than a decade.Signals have been getting louder that Netflix is intent on executing its plan to come to market with an offering for advertisers and also a way to entice new subscribers.