After a slump in sales: Netflix plans a new subscription model – and breaks with a big taboo

Created: 04/20/2022, 14:18

By: Patricia Huber

The streaming service Netflix could soon offer another subscription model.

© Daniel Reinhardt/dpa

Streaming giant Netflix lost a large batch of subscribers in the first quarter.

A new offer is intended to remedy the situation - and breaks a major taboo of the provider.

Los Gatos – During the Corona* pandemic, the Netflix streaming service was one of the big winners.

The number of subscribers grew strongly during the lockdowns.

But the tough measures have now been lifted in most countries - and Netflix is ​​now feeling the effects.

The number of subscriptions is dropping enormously, which is apparently prompting the board to adopt new strategies.

Netflix: Soon streaming service with advertising?

Actually, advertising for Netflix has always been taboo.

In none of the subscription models do users have to be annoyed by annoying commercials.

But that could soon be the end of it.

Although Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has not thought much of a subscription model with advertising, he seems to have had a change of heart in view of the declining subscription numbers.

He explained that such a new model could make "a lot of sense".

The video service will work on such a solution in the next one to two years - but Hastings did not present any concrete plans.

The German streaming provider RTL+, for example, has always worked with advertising.

If you are a subscriber to the basic tariff, you will always see a commercial before the desired series or film.

Netflix blames Russia withdrawal for weak numbers

But where did the Netflix boss's turnaround come from?

The numbers show that for the first time in more than ten years, the streaming giant is struggling with a loss of customers.

In the three months to the end of March, around 200,000 paid subscriptions were lost, as Netflix announced on Tuesday (April 19) after the US stock market closed.

Netflix blamed the weak numbers for, among other things, the withdrawal from Russia, where all customer accounts were deactivated because of the Ukraine war *.

According to the company, around 700,000 subscriptions were lost due to the measure on a quarterly basis.

Without this effect, there would have been an increase of half a million users.

Netflix also explained that the statistics suffer from the multiple use of customer accounts, as many subscribers share their passwords.

The company estimates that around 100 million households worldwide use the streaming service without paying.