Netflix has lost 200,000 subscribers for the first time in a decade and the user drain is expected to amount to a million in the next few months. The pandemic bubble prompted us to consume traditional television and video platforms like never before. But the market is adjusting to a scenario with high competition and changing habits. In Spain, according to Barlovento Communicationeach household has access, on average, to 2.7 payment platforms, with Netflix leading the way with the largest share of consumption (33.8%).
Netflix changes strategy in just a few weeks
Disney + will launch a cheaper subscription in exchange for offer advertising to viewers. Following Disney’s announcement, Netflix’s chief financial officer flatly denied the chance to follow in his footsteps. But, after learning of the fall in subscribers, the CEO of the American company now assures that in one or two years ads will be included in some of your rate plans. However, there are already 100% free platforms, such as Pluto TV, which not only offers live TV but also on-demand content in exchange for advertising.
But are viewers willing to watch ads? According to a IAB Spain study More than 61% of online video viewers are in favor of the inclusion of ads in exchange for watching content for free. Obviously, there will always be a love-hate relationship between advertising and the viewer: in fact, advertisements have also marking the imaginary of a society that, until the 1990s, depended on traditional television.
One of the added values of paid video platforms is, or was, that content can be viewed without interruptions. But let’s not forget that advertising is content that can interest the viewer-consumer if it is minimally invasive and offers a product that fits their profile. The potential of digital video in that sense is unimaginable.
On the other hand, Netflix could also increase its income if it eliminates the shared accounts, but that would be like indirectly raising the fees and could lead to more permanent decreases.
Who will measure the advertising impact of the platforms?
Disney claims to have a long list of advertisers interested in your proposal. But if paid video platforms are betting on inserting ads, advertisers will want reliable data on impact. And here the melon of audience measurement opens. Will advertisers have to rely on internal, unaudited data from each platform? Will it be necessary for a company to appear that measures the success of the content to determine which one has to pay more to introduce advertising?
In the United States, Nielsen measures the traditional audience and takes advantage of these audiometers to also measure that of Netflix, but this system does not have platform recognition. Spanish audience consultants Windward Communication Y GECA they disseminate consumption reports from video platforms, but based on interviews.
In short, there is still no consensus measurement by the sector. The real data remains in the hands of the platforms, is private and is not made public. An exciting and changing medium-term future awaits us.
Jorge Gallardo-CamachoDirector of the Degree in Audiovisual Communication and New Media, Camilo Jose Cela University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. read the original.