Netflix boosts ad-supported tier with new product, measurement options

Dive Brief:

Netflix’s ad-supported tier, launched six months ago, has nearly 5 million active global users, according to a press release from the company. Since the beginning of the year, the tier’s membership has more than doubled.
The ad-supported tier is also outperforming competitors, according to data cited by the company. Consumers are over four times as likely to engage with an ad on Netflix compared to another service, and are over 4.5x as likely to engage with an ad compared to linear TV.
Additionally, Netflix used its first upfront presentation to announce new ad options and partnerships with Nielsen and EDO around measurement, increasingly an area of prioritization at the upfronts and beyond.

Dive Insight:

Netflix is finding success with its ad-supported tier, according to the company's upfront presentation. More than 70% of ad plan members are aged 18 to 49, with a global median of 34, putting the tier’s audience in the demos sought by advertisers. Over a quarter of new sign-ups chose the ad-supported plan, where available, suggesting more growth is possible.

During the presentation, the streamer not only shared information on the platform’s growth, but also unveiled new advertising options for advertising partners. New opportunities include sponsorship options and measurement capabilities.

As part of its sponsorship additions, marketers will be able to sponsor popular series at launch. Additionally, they will be able to associate themselves with holidays and other categories, like sustainability. Marketers will also have the option to align with the Top 10 feature, ensuring they appear in the most popular shows on the platform.

In an effort to improve measurement options, brands advertising in the U.S. will gain access in Q4 to Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings, which allows marketers to be able to see de-duplicated audience measurements for campaigns run on the ad-supported platform.

Outside of advertising, Netflix also touched on its programming successes. According to Nielsen data cited by the streamer, viewing across Nielsen’s Top 10 most watched lists was three times greater on Netflix than its competitors combined. In 2023 alone, Netflix had the number one original TV show across streaming for 15 out of 16 weeks, and the number one movie for 14 weeks.