Netflix ad tier has 40 million subscribers | Wilnesh News

NetflixThe company said Wednesday that its cheaper, ad-supported tier has amassed 40 million monthly active users globally.

That’s nearly double the 23 million figure the streaming giant shared in January.

Separately, Netflix announced it will launch its own advertising platform and will no longer partner with Microsoft to develop the technology. The tech giant will remain a programmatic advertising partner.

Netflix launched the ad-supported program in November 2022 as part of a broader effort to drive revenue growth amid slowing user growth. The strategy includes a crackdown on password sharing last year.

The company said Wednesday that 40% of registered users in countries where ad tiers are available have opted for the cheaper plan. Netflix currently has 270 million subscribers.

The monthly active ad user data comes just a month after Netflix told investors it would no longer provide quarterly subscriber count updates. The company said at the time that it was generating substantial profits and free cash flow and that its membership numbers were not the only factor in its growth. The company said the metric lost meaning after it started offering members multiple price points.

Ad-level users have surged as linear TV audiences shrink and traditional media companies seek to gain a foothold in streaming. Netflix has established itself as a leader in the space while many other companies are trying to monetize their streaming platforms.

The main competitor has far fewer subscribers than Netflix. Comcast said in its first-quarter earnings report that its streaming platform Peacock had 34 million subscribers.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Revealed: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.