Last week came the news Disney+ will be launching a cheaper, ad-supported (AVOD) option later this year.
That follows in the wake of HBO Max and Paramount+ installing the option last June while other streamers like Hulu and Peacock have basically had such an option in-built from their beginnings.
Now even streaming champion Netflix has apparently softened it stance a little on its ‘no commercials’ policy. Speaking this week at a Morgan Stanley TMT conference, Netflix CFO Spender Neumann says while there are no plans for it in the near future, they are watching the AVOD space:
“For us, it’s not like we have religion against advertising, to be clear. We’re focused on optimizing for long-term revenue, big profit pools, and we want to do it in a way that is great experience for our members, so we lean into consumer experience, consumer choice, and what’s great for our creators, the storytellers.
If at some point we determine something we have the right to kind of play our want into the space that meets those dimensions, then great. But that’s not something within our plans right now. Never say never… Other folks are learning from it so it’s hard for us to ignore that others are doing it, but for now it doesn’t make sense for us.”
Two of the most tangible benefits of SVOD services have been a lack of commercials and full season launches of series, indeed a big part of Netflix’s identity has been defined by its embracing of both of these.
Now though, as SVOD services race to increase subscriber numbers and revenue in order to justify their multi-billion dollar spends on content, AVOD is seen as a quick and simple solution to this issue – it boosts numbers, it offers another revenue stream for the studio, advertisers are understandably happy, and it offers a cheaper price point to users.
Whether this will impact the creative content of series however remains to be seen.
Source: Indiewire
