RRSS News Online Newspaper ng mga Pinoy
Streaming giants Netflix and Disney+ might start offering free subscription tiers to their subscribers soon, this means subscribers can opt not to pay fees but will instead see advertisements as they watch movies and series.
Netflix has said that the free tier is aimed at international markets where converting users to paid customers is relatively difficult. But Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters has said that the free tier is unlikely to be offered in the US, considering their strategic focus on region’s facing cost and access barriers.
The streaming platform currently has ad-supported option for Netflix – but paid, not free – and is likely to arrive in the Philippines by next year, which will show around 4-5 minutes of advertisements per hour of content.
The free tier, meanwhile, could bring double to triple – meaning, 15 minutes of advertisements per hour at most.
Disney, on the other hand, has confirmed the possibility of offering free tier in their streaming platform; which they think could help expand their reach in price-sensitive audiences and sell more advertisements to increase revenue.
CEO Josh D’Amaro has said, “First, we see it as a way to expand our reach to a customer segment that’s more price-sensitive. Second, unlike a lot of our AVOD competitors, we’re fairly well sold, meaning more inventory would actually help us accelerate our ad revenue growth. And finally… a free offering could help us drive top-of-funnel Disney+ subscriber growth.”
Netflix and Disney+’s push to free tiers could be attributed to how streaming leaders adopt to intense market pressure.
Popular free streaming services are YouTube, Tubi, and The Roku Channel.
Sources: PC Mag, YugaTech, Canadian Inquirer
