Netflix is thinking of an advertising model as the way to overcome the flight of more than a million subscribers so far this year. However, the company could make decisions that would drive more people away from its service, such as disallowing content to be downloaded for offline viewing in the ad-supported subscription.
This is not yet confirmed by the company, however, the feature was found in programming code found within the iPhone app. “Downloads available on all plans except Netflix with ads,” said developer Steve Moser, who was the first to discover the situation.
Moser shared the news with Bloomberg, to which he also explained that according to the code, users will not be able to skip the ads, in addition to the fact that playback controls will not be available during ad breaks, that is, the commercial will not be able to be advanced. .
This is one of the most important features in the user experience on the streaming platform, so its limitation could be a counterproductive measure for the company. According to the American media, Netflix refused to comment on the discovery.
In 2016, when the option to download content finally became available, Co-CEO Ted Sarandos noted that they were looking to support emerging markets where WiFi was spotty.
The service with ads is expected to be available until 2023, but while it arrives it has not been exempt from various controversies, such as the fact that it will not include all the content that the platform has, according to what its executives said.
In the Q2 earnings call, Sarandos mentioned that “there are some things that we are not (can include), which we are talking to the studios about, but if we launch the product today, the members at the ad level would have a great experience. ”.
The reason why not all content would be included is that they must negotiate with different production companies to host the content under the ad model, as studios are likely to seek commissions on current contracts to allow their content to be advertised.
For his part, the financial director, Spencer Neumman, accepted that “it is good to have it (all the content), but it is not essential. As Ted says, we can release today without any additional content authorization rights, but hopefully we can supplement that.”
As things darken for Netflix, other platforms have grown, such as Disney, whose streaming service reached a total of 221.1 million subscribers.
With this figure, the digital platform surpassed Netflix for the first time, which has 220.6 million users. Although it is relevant to mention that Disney includes the platforms Disney+, ESPN, Hulu and Star+ (for Latin America).
