TV & Streaming

Netflix to debut its $6.99-a-month ad tier in November

The streamer unveiled new details about the tier, which will include four to five minutes of pre-roll and mid-roll ads per hour.
article cover

Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photos: Netflix

ByKelsey Sutton

· less than 3 min read

Get marketing news you'll actually want to read

Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.

Netflix’s highly anticipated ad-supported tier will debut in the US in less than three weeks, Netflix announced Thursday, earlier than previously expected and ahead of rival Disney+’s own ad-supported offering.

The tier, called Basic with Ads, will cost new subscribers $6.99 a month and will include an average of between four and five minutes of ads per hour in the form of 15- and 30-second pre-roll and mid-roll ads. Netflix’s ad-free Basic, Standard, and Premium plans (which start at $9.99 a month) will remain unchanged.

The tier will roll out in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, the UK and the US on Nov. 3. It’ll roll out in Canada and Mexico on Nov. 1, and in Spain on Nov. 10.

What else should advertisers know?

Here’s a quick rundown:

  • Ads can be broadly targeted by country and programming genre, like action, drama, or romance. Marketers can choose not to run ads against certain content, like programming containing sex, nudity, or graphic violence.
  • In the future, information like subscriber age and gender will be used for targeting, said Jeremi Gorman, Netflix’s president of worldwide advertising.
  • Neither Netflix nor its advertising partner, Microsoft, will use data outside of the streamer for ad targeting, Gorman said. The company will not accept political ads nor ads for tobacco or firearms.
  • DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science will begin verifying viewability and traffic validity beginning in the first quarter of 2023.
  • Netflix ad viewership will be measured through Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings in the US in 2023.

Beating the competition: Netflix’s ad-supported tier will arrive more than a month ahead of Disney+’s forthcoming ad-supported tier, slated to debut Dec. 8. Netflix’s Basic with Ads will also be $1 less than Disney+’s $7.99-a-month ad-supported tier.

As expected, advertisers seem to be all in. The streamer is “nearly sold out” of its launch inventory and has lined up “hundreds of advertisers” from around the world ahead of its November debut, including from auto brands, CPG brands, travel brands, retailers, and luxury brands, Gorman said; in press materials, cosmetics brands NYX and L’Oréal Paris were featured as advertisers.—KS

Get marketing news you'll actually want to read

Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.