7 Million Strong: Netflix’s ad-supported model redefines TV advertising
Have you seen - I feel like you couldn’t miss the infographics scrolling through LinkedIn - Netflix is now Barb measured. Why’s that important, you ask? Finally, we’re able to get an audience number from Barb for the Netflix ad funded model, which is currently quoted as a reach number in excess of 7 million. Considerable, given the subscriber numbers Netflix had gone to market with were much lower & Barb measurement is significantly higher than the numbers being spat out by survey based media consumption models. Hooray for Netflix!!
And this is a long time coming. It was first announced pre-pandemic in 2019 by Netflix CEO Reed Hasting that Netflix were open to additional independent measurement via Barb. It was in 2022, that Netflix were officially onboarded and we first started to see viewing figures roll in for some of Netflix’s biggest shows. It finally answered the question the industry had been chattering about - are Netflix shows able to compete with the broadcasters, or does the media bubble echo chamber make us think this content on Netflix is bigger than it really is? And the numbers did stack up - shows like Beckham, The Night Agent & Fool Me Once all broke 6 million viewers in line with some of the biggest shows on broadcasters such as Britain’s Got Talent, Gogglebox & The Long Shadow.
Where Netflix viewing really did come into its own was when we factored in young viewers - suddenly Netflix was able to take up over half of the biggest shows of 2023 for 1634s with the likes of Sex Education, You & Queen Charlotte. Hits from 2024 like Bridgerton & Baby Reindeer have had similar success.
But the question always remained - how much can these Netflix shows really add to an advertisers media plan. A question Barb has finally answered this week.
Bridgerton , Fool Me Once & Baby Reindeer - Netflix's biggest hits of 2024
That 7 million reach number currently represents a growing percentage of Netflix’s total reach. 17% of all Netflix’s reach now comes from the ad-funded model and on the back drops of price rises for the ad-free package and the ongoing password crackdown it's a proportion that will only grow and grow. Perhaps the age old model of advertiser funded content hasn’t always been so bad hey?
Why is this huge for Netflix - 45% of all new sign ups are coming via the ad funded model. Significant for Netflix as this has finally helped them offset the post-pandemic subscriber number plateau or even decline they’d started to see. And this has had a big impact for Netflix’s business as a whole globally; revenue numbers have steadily climbed back to the numbers they’d last seen in early 2021 on the backdrop of the increased viewership as the world still stayed at home. Netflix grew by 8 million more subscribers globally in the last quarter (a gain over double what investors had predicted) taking total numbers to 277 million globally. And of course that share price is looking everso healthy now.
For advertisers, the addition of Netflix (along with Discovery+) to the Advance Campaign Hub, makes it even easier for TV screen activity to be planned holistically. With Amazon Prime Video on board since June, building out plans that encompass SVOD, BVOD & AVOD (plus any other VOD related acronyms we can throw in there) is truly coming to life. Even more so when Disney+ is onboarded, said to be in the coming months. With the ever growing power of CFlight for all that post campaign measurement too, there’s never been a better time for brands to start planning TV holistically alongside tools that can effectively measure it pre & post campaign.
Outside of Netflix, there's a huge amount of choice for consumers in the TV space
And what a journey for brands to be a part of. Post-COVID there was a feeling that that SVOD bubble might be about to burst with new players launching almost monthly seemingly with little to no cut through. Meanwhile viewers were becoming increasingly paralysed by choice and subscription fatigue. It seems as though ad-supported models might be the silver bullet that consumers & brands alike had been looking for. Although Netflix’s initial advertiser offering was ridiculously over priced & lacking in targeting capabilities and innovation, there’s been a huge amount of work to create opportunities for brands. This now includes sponsorship opportunities with some of Netflix’s biggest and most premium shows, first impression takeovers and the recently launched static pause ads. What’s not to love?
Netflix aside, the successful Amazon Prime Video ad roll out, the integration of content recognition into VOD buys and the invigoration ITV VOD via ITVX means there’s never been a better time for brands to be on TV - so come and chat with us at piqniq about how we can make this happen for you.
