Netflix introduces ads: how this will affect you if you have an account

When Netflix’s cheaper ad-supported tier launches next year, subscribers may not be able to access some of the service’s titles available on its regular plan.

As Deadline notes, Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos admitted during the company’s most recent earnings call that the upcoming subscription option won’t include all of its licensed content at launch. Missing will be shows and movies from U.S. and international studios and distributors, unless the company successfully (and quickly) convinces them to change the deal they originally agreed to.

Netflix introduces commercials

Netflix is in talks with studios to change its offerings and make its shows available for streaming alongside commercials. Based on an earlier Wall Street Journal report, Netflix is renegotiating its contracts with Warner Bros. (the studio behind You), Universal (producer of Russian Doll) and Sony Pictures Television (producer of Cobra Kai). It looks like the service will have to renegotiate terms for some of the older shows it offers, including Breaking Bad.

Sarandos said during the call:

“Today, the vast majority of what people watch on Netflix, we can include in commercials. There are some things we don’t see, and we’re in discussions with studios, but if we launched the product today, members of the ad tier would have a great experience. We’ll delete some additional content, but certainly not all of it, but don’t think it’s a material holdback for the business.”

In the same call, Netflix also acknowledged that it lost nearly a million subscribers in the second quarter of 2022. It still posted a net profit of $1.44 billion and expects to add a million subscribers in the next quarter, but hopes that some of the steps it is taking will help it grow its user base again. The level of ad support it is launching with Microsoft early next year could help Netflix grow in markets where there is strong ad spending.