Netflix wants to put any speculation about the success of its ad-supported Standard with Ads plan to rest. The world’s biggest streamer in terms of subscribers was already dominating headlines on Wednesday with the news that it had inked a deal to stream a select package of NFL games for each of the next three seasons, but it doubled down on its big week by taking the opportunity to announce that it had grown to 40 million ad-supported streaming customers around the world, a big gain over the last time it provided an update on its ad tier in January.

Key Details:

• Netflix had 23 million ad-supported customers in January and just 15 million in October.
• The ad-supported plan first launched in November 2022.
• Recent data shows Netflix’s ad plan still lags behind those of other top streaming services in the U.S. in key metrics.

The growth of Netflix’s ad-supported plan is all the more impressive considering it is still only available in 12 countries around the world. The service last gave a public update about the Standard with Ads plan in January, when it revealed the plan had 23 million customers around the globe. That was the first word from Netflix regarding the plan’s customer base since October when it had 15 million users. In a little over six months, Standard with Ads has more than doubled in size.

With those extra ad-supported customers comes extra revenues, which Netflix can use to fuel its TV and movie production houses, go after more marquee sports rights, or make other investments. CNBC reports that the streamer is also breaking with Microsoft and will launch its own advertising platform in the near future, a possibility the company first began to explore last spring.

Netflix stands at 269.6 million global customers as of the end of the first quarter, and the real-time count has almost certainly surpassed the 270 million mark. The Standard with Ads plan was first launched in 2022 as the Basic with Ads plan, but the company has augmented it with extra features since it first came to market. A subscription to this Netflix tier costs $6.99 per month.

Is Netflix Still Behind Other US Streamers’ Ad Plans?

The news that Netflix had crossed the 40 million customer mark with its ad-supported plan was yet another sign of the streamer’s global dominance. However, a recent report from Antenna shows that Netflix still lags behind Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+ and Hulu when comparing the sign-up rate to each streamer’s respective ad-supported plan.

In the U.S., 40% of Netflix customers opted for the streamer’s ad-supported plan in the first quarter of 2024. That number will continue to rise as Netflix expands password-sharing restrictions to more customers and compels former sharers to sign up for accounts of their own, but it’s still well behind other services. Peacock, for example, sees 79% of its customers opt for its ad-supported plan.

Analysts expect the growth of Netflix's ad tier to continue, so executives at the streamer aren’t likely sweating the sign-up rate in the U.S. as compared to peers. That’s especially true when adding the context that despite Peacock’s high rate of new additions to its ad plan, the streamer only has 34 million customers total, which is 6 million fewer than Netflix’s ad-supported subscriber count alone.

Between the NFL deal and the announcement of the growth of its ad-supported plan, Netflix’s corporate officers would be forgiven for taking the rest of the week off. But there could be more announcements from the streamer’s upfront presentations, suggesting Netflix could continue to dominate the news cycle as it dominates the streaming industry.

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Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”

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The platform constantly updates its catalog, introducing fresh content alongside timeless classics and international hits. Netflix’s commitment to storytelling has also earned critical acclaim, with award-winning exclusives such as “Roma,” “Marriage Story,” “The Power of the Dog,” “Mank,” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In 2023, their animated film “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, further solidifying Netflix’s reputation for high-quality content.

Recently, Netflix has expanded beyond standard movies and TV titles with the addition of video podcasts, and is also exploring a digital store that would offer third-party streamers within the app.

Netflix offers three plans – stream on 2 devices in HD with the “Standard with Ads” ($8.99) plan, on 2 devices in HD with the “Standard” ($19.99) plan, and 4 devices in up to 4K on the “Premium” ($26.99) plan.

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