One year after the launch of its ad-supported subscription tier, Netflix has announced that it will be making some fairly significant enhancements to its lower-priced streaming options beginning this week. As part of a recap of the first year of ad-supported service for the world’s largest streamer, Netflix’s president of advertising Amy Reinhard announced that customers on the ad-supported tiers will be able to download titles for offline viewing starting this week, in addition to other changes planned.

• Netflix will become the first streamer to allow ad-supported titles to be downloaded.
• This change will take effect this week with more improvements coming in early 2024.
• Ads with QR codes will also come to domestic viewers next year.

What Changes Are Coming to Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier?

Following this past spring’s increase in streaming quality and simultaneous streams on the plan, Reinhard mentions that more changes will happen in the first quarter of 2024.

“All members of the ad-supported plan will be able to download their favorite series and movies, making Netflix the only ad-supported streamer to offer downloads,” she said. “Starting in Q1 2024, our advertisers globally will be able to utilize our new binge ad (wt) format that taps into the viewing behavior of watching multiple episodes in a row. After watching three consecutive episodes, members will be presented with a fourth episode ad-free.”

This binge-friendly advertising benefit was first announced in conjunction with Netflix's recent earning's report. No exact timetable has been announced as to when this feature will be added to the platform other than in the first three months of next year, but Netflix also announced on Wednesday that early next year, it would also be launching the ability for advertisers to include QR codes in commercials airing in the United States.

Why Is Netflix Making the Improvements to Its Ad-Supported Streaming Plans?

When Netflix announced its latest quarterly earnings in October, the service added 8.76 million customers worldwide to bring its global total to 247.15 million. A strong driver of new signups was the company’s efforts to curb password-sharing. The streamer also removed its lowest-cost ad-free plan as an option for new subscribers in an effort to push the most cost-conscious customers to the cheaper ad-supported tier. This is because the revenue generated by the subscription and the revenue generated by the ads leads to a better return per user than just the slightly more expensive premium subscriptions. Therefore, it is more financially beneficial to have consumers on the ad tier than the now discontinued Basic plan.

In order to make that streaming option attractive to customers, Netflix is making changes to allow some of the quality and flexibility that people are used to on the ad-free side of streaming available on its ad-supported plan. The goal, presumably, is to provide a cost-friendly streaming option for customers either looking to downgrade their service or to begin their cord-cutting journey.

Thanks to price increases to multiple plans announced last month, new customers can sign up for the Standard with Ads plan for just $6.99 per month, the ad-free Standard plan for $15.49, or the ad-free Premium plan for $22.99.

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