Streaming service will only have basic plans with ads, standard and premium
Netflix announced for the Brazilian market, last week, the end of the basic ad-free plan. As a result, from now on, streaming will only have three plan options: basic with ads, standard and premium, which will cost R$18.90, R$39.90 and R$55.90, respectively.
In a note, Netflix said that the discontinuation of the basic plan should happen for new subscribers or for those who are renewing their subscription. Users who already subscribe to the standard plan will continue to have the available option. The same change will be adopted in other countries, such as Germany, Spain, Japan, Mexico and Australia.
Streaming has seen growth in the number of subscribers. According to data for the third quarter of 2023, Netflix had an increase of 8.76 million subscribers and the service totaled 247.15 million subscribers at the end of the fiscal period, on September 30. Still according to the document, the biggest growth until then was in adherence to the plan with advertisements, an increase of 70% in relation to the previous quarter.
Miguel Valione Junior is an advertiser, master in Communication and Semitics, and coordinator of the Greater Communication Area at Anhembi Morumbi University. For him, the changes in Netflix’s plans have, as one of the intentions, to encourage the plan with advertisements.
Netflix knows that many subscribers are reluctant to pay for an ad-supported service. With the end of the basic plan, Netflix hopes that subscribers who do not want to pay more for the service will opt for the plan with ads, he said.
The plan with advertisements, to which the university professor refers, was presented by Netflix at the end of last year. Created after a period in which Netflix lost almost 1 million subscribers, the option has advertising before and during content playback, in addition to not having a catalog of series and complete films on the platform.
Valione Junior emphasizes that it is still early to assess the impact of the decision in a real way. However, I believe the measure could be positive for Netflix, and could help the company continue to grow, he highlighted.
Coordinator of the Cinema and Audiovisual course at ESPM, Pedro Curi agrees with Valione. He explains that, until then, the basic plan’s limiting factor was lower image quality and access to the entire collection.
Now, we have a cheaper plan with the same image quality. In other words, this means that Netflix delivers the same image quality, regardless of internet speed, but when you have the possibility of advertising, it increases another form of revenue entry, he said.
Password sharing
Since May, in Brazil, Netflix password sharing has become paid. The measure provides that a subscription can only be shared between people who live in the same household.
In a statement, released at the time, Netflix stated that the measure extends to people who share passwords and profiles with people who live in other homes. According to the platform, the Netflix account must be used by a single household.
The measure, which also applied to the Australian market, caused a stampede of Netflix customers in the country. The consultancy Telsyte estimates that 200 thousand consumers abandoned the streaming service in the last 12 months, around 3% of the base in the country.
(Credit: Foto de Sunder Muthukumaran on Unsplash)
