Report: Almost Half of Ad-Supported Netflix Users Think Service Has Too Many Commercials
There are still those of us who remember when an hour of linear TV came with 12-15 minutes of commercials standard. The advent of on-demand streaming video has changed much about the way consumers view ads, and services like Netflix who stood at the vanguard of the resistance to ad-supported streaming are now left to contend with the results of those shifts in audience attitudes.
Now that Netflix has an ad-supported tier of its own, it’s finding users aren’t simply willing to say, “Well, there are still fewer ads than on regular TV.” That’s according to new data from Aluma Insights, which shows that 49% of subscribers to Netflix’s Standard with Ads plan — formerly called “Basic with Ads” until earlier this week— felt they were seeing too many ads. The number jumps to 60% when the survey addresses only users who switched over from an ad-free plan. Standard with Ads shows about five minutes of ads per hour of content.
Partially, the problem is one of Netflix’s own making. Thanks to its many years of providing only ad-free streaming options, Netflix set an industry standard that was hard for other streamers to break away from. Customers got used to thinking of streaming as an ad-free alternative to traditional TV, and now that streamers are more frequently adopting ads as a way to boost revenues, users are hesitant to take even half a step backward.
“Having to watch only five minutes of ads per hour seems like a delightful reprieve from the much heavier ad loads of linear TV,” Aluma founder Michael Greeson said. “But linear TV is not necessarily the advertising benchmark for today’s multi-source viewers, a growing number of which came of age watching ad-free streaming video services such as Netflix. Undoubtedly, this has altered how they feel about ad loads.”
Despite these numbers, there may not be many changes to the ad load on the Netflix Standard with Ads plan. The five minutes per hour of ads on Netflix is still less than on other ad-supported streaming tiers, like Paramount+ Essential and Hulu with ads, both of which sit at around 9-10 minutes of ads per hour. HBO Max and Disney+ are both closer to four minutes per hour, but that comes out to just one to two fewer ads per episode. Netflix is right around the median in the streaming industry as far as the number of commercials goes, so a dramatic pullback on its ad load is highly unlikely.
It’s not impossible that the Standard with Ads plan sees more changes in the future, however. In addition to a new name, the ad-supported price tier got some other improvements this week that Netflix hopes will keep users engaged when it starts enforcing rules against password sharing in the United States. These changes include a screen resolution that now maxes out at 1080p instead of 720p as before, and the ability to stream on up to two screens simultaneously (up from the former limit of one).
Ad-supported streaming will always be a trade-off. It’s a lower-priced product that allows users more flexibility with their entertainment budget, but there’s no getting around the fact that they’ll have to put up with some commercials in exchange. Netflix’s Standard with Ads plan might not get the highest marks of any streamer in the industry in terms of ad load, but it’s unlikely there’ll be dramatic changes to the number of commercials users will see while streaming.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.