Although Netflix has taken the spotlight for now, the first major streaming video platform to indicate that it was considering launching a subscription with advertising was Disney+. And, from what it seems, everything indicates that this year this will be a reality and, therefore, it will offer an additional option to its potential subscribers.
It seems quite clear that companies working in this market segment are sensing why their business model, as it is proposing, is reaching a ceiling. And, consequently, they have to think of new possibilities to increase the number of subscribers, which is one of the ways that constant and fixed income is achieved. And, it seems, one of the big bets is the arrival of subscriptions paid, but what are they cheaper in exchange for seeing advertising.
The truth is that it is nothing new, but to date the big ones among the VOD services had not taken the step in such a clear way (we can except Movistar+ in Spain, which has shown ads before accessing content for a long time, since be it a movie or a sporting event). The fact is that nothing is being invented, but it is a way of being able to reach users who do not want to spend a lot when accessing content in the cloud and who, until now, did not have a valid option for them.
A cheaper ad-supported tier for Disney+ will be launched by the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/ShnLhjrvok
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 11, 2022
When will the new Disney+ subscription arrive?
Well, if the source of the information is considered good, it would be end of this same year 2022 when it would be launched in all the regions in which the platform has a presence, including Spain: Thus, the times will be equal to what is expected from Netflix, so it seems quite clear that both companies are very closely marked. For now, nothing is known about the rest of the players and it remains to be seen what HBO, Prime Video and Apple decide (the latter goes by itself, so it is more than likely that it will not follow the same steps in the short term).
It should be remembered that Netflix also intends to reduce the use of shared passwords by users who have an account on the platform. The idea is enter a small monthly payment so that it is possible to do this… It is another option to increase income, but the complexity of establishing an adequate operation can mean that this service is left alone here -for the moment the rest have not indicated anything regarding this idea, and it is already significant -.
Can there be a boomerang effect?
Well, the truth is that this risk exists. Thus, it may be that some users decide to sign up with the new subscription with advertising, but others who already have an account decide to do the same and leave the most expensive and free of ads. Thus, the profit may not be very large and, therefore, the only objective that will be achieved is to increase the market share and not so much the profits.
The point is that everything indicates that we will leave doubts at the end of this year because both Disney + and Netflix are determined to take the leap … we will see if there is water in the pool.
