Netflix preps for an ad-supported tier and a password crackdown

Netflix has launched a new, lower-priced, and ad-supported service to try to get more subscribers.

In the company’s quarterly shareholder report, Netflix announced that it intends to launch its ad-supported tier in “the early part of 2023.”

The new ad-supported plan is meant to complement the company’s existing paid subscription tiers, which will remain ad-free. Further details were not disclosed, so it’s unknown whether the company intends to restrict content for paid subscribers, like competitor Peacock does, or if ads will be the only difference.

This comes after the reported loss of 970,000 subscribers during the second quarter. It already represents nearly half the 2 million users that the company had predicted it would lose. In April, the company claimed it had lost 200k paying customers. The company took drastic steps to improve its outlook and made strategic moves.

Netflix’s new ad-supported tier will be one tactic as the the company attempts to reverse its spiraling viewership. The company has also tried to curb password sharing in Latin American markets, and recently increased prices. In Netflix’s second quarter report, the company called that remedy “paid sharing,” and told investors it plans to roll out anti-password sharing measures across its global installation base sometime in 2023.