X

Netflix Mulling $7 to $9 Monthly Price for Ad-Supported Tier, Report Says

That would be about half the cost of its most popular ad-free offering.

Edward Moyer Senior Editor
Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
Credentials
  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
2 min read
Netflix logo
Sarah Tew/CNET

Streaming service Netflix is thinking about pricing its new ad-supported subscription tier at $7 to $9 per month, according to a report. That would be around half the price of its most-popular ad-free plan, which goes for $15.50 a month.

As  Netflix  gets ready to introduce advertising for the first time, it's being cautious about striking the right balance between attracting budget-minded viewers and offering a non-jarring experience, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The company is planning to sell approximately four minutes of ads per hour for the new tier and will show ads during and before some programs, but not after, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed sources familiar with Netflix's plans.

Netflix didn't immediately provide a comment to CNET.

Read more: Best Streaming Service of 2022: Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus and More

Ads won't be shown during children's shows, Bloomberg reported earlier, and subscribers reportedly won't be able to download content for offline viewing.

Netflix's new ad-supported tier could begin rolling out in at least six markets during the last three months of this year, Bloomberg said Friday, with a full launch possibly coming in early 2023. Plans could change, however.

This past April, when Netflix reported its first subscriber loss in a decade, co-CEO Reed Hastings reversed years of dismissing any interest in advertising by revealing the company was looking at a cheaper, ad-supported option. The company is also planning to start charging for password sharing, next year.

Rival streaming services Hulu and Disney Plus have also recently announced new ad-supported offerings as part of their lineup.