Netflix aiming for 40M ad-supported viewers by Q3 next year - WSJ
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Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has estimated that the advertising-supported tier of its service will reach about 40M viewers by the third quarter of 2023, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The report cites a document shared with ad buyers by Netflix, supported by its advertising partner Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), as they look to lock down ad deals.
The streamer expects 4.4M unique viewers worldwide by the end of the year (across a dozen launch markets), with 1.1M of those in the United States, according to the document - adding support to the idea that Netflix (NFLX) is planning to beat its first-quarter launch estimate and produce the tier as soon as Nov. 1.
Those numbers would grow to 40M-plus unique viewers by next year's third quarter, with 13.3M of those in the U.S. Notably, the figures are for viewers rather than subscribers since more than one person in a household will watch the service.
And 40M viewers is a small figure compared to Netflix's 220M subscribers, but still a significant number for an online video ad destination.
Earlier, Benchmark suggested Netflix's rally may be tapped out amid "hubris" on its aggressive pricing plans for ad-supported video. The company is offering advertisers only limited targeting and reportedly seeking rich prices, starting at $60 to reach a thousand viewers.