When Netflix came out around 20 years ago and really started in with the streaming as well as the DVDs by mail it was considered to be one of the greatest things that had ever happened since there were no commercials, which was unheard of to be certain since a person could access pretty much anything on the site and never see a single ad. But one would have to reason that at some point this lack of advertisements would mean that Netflix might have to raise money in some way, which could come from price hikes that have occurred at least once or twice in the history of the site. But thankfully those price hikes haven’t been so great that they’ve scared off a huge number of subscribers since the network has reached nearly 200 million subscribers, easily staying ahead of other services, even those that have opted to give the people a chance to view what they’re offering for a slightly higher price. But without ads, and without any plan to start instilling ads into their service, one still has to wonder how Netflix is planning on staying ahead, despite the fact that they’ve been doing it for a while now. As it’s been explained, the advertising game apparently isn’t quite as lucrative as it would appear, though it might take someone that knows what they’re talking about to really explain it.
Some folks are willing to deal with the ads for a lower price, but to many people, the absence of ads is great since one doesn’t have to watch the same thing over and over again during the break, and they don’t have to wait for the program to come back. In fact, one of the only times that a lot of people are willing to watch advertisements is during the Super Bowl, which might be up for debate some years, and when there are new movie trailers coming out that people want to see. Other than that, ads are useful but they’re also seen as a bit of a distraction since they tend to take away from the overall enjoyment that some people get out of a movie or a TV show. There are shows that would be better served by not cutting away to a commercial every time something monumental or even mildly interesting is about to happen but to be fair, that’s how some shows keep coming back since they build up the anticipation. Netflix allows people to just keep watching, as do a couple of other services that have made it possible to up the enjoyment without having to deal with ads.
How this will continue though is kind of hard to see since it’s been stated that Netflix might very well reach into other venues such as gaming and sports at some point, which would mean a huge boost in subscribers likely and even more since sporting events would help Netflix diversify in a way that’s simply unprecedented. But this development sounds as though it might be something that the network is thinking about in the future to come, not the future that’s happening as of now. Right now the plan appears to be to just keep chugging ahead and do what they’ve been doing using roughly the same business model in order to keep from having to muddy the waters too much. It sounds like a good idea to be certain since thus far Netflix has been coming out on top when it comes to the streaming wars, as they’ve been keeping their place amidst the rise of several other competitors that have been flooding the market with their own movies and shows as people are being forced to choose between one service and another in order to catch all the movies and shows that they want. While Netflix was a landing spot at one point for a heavy load of Disney-owned material, the emergence of Disney+ and the Disney/Fox merger made it clear that the Mouse House was aiming to do their own thing and would be taking back their own properties at some point. Once that happened the thought was that Netflix would see a serious drop in subscribers since the idea was that Disney+ would enter as a big and very dominant player.
But looking at how things have gone, Netflix is still going strong since they’ve spent a fortune on the programming they’ve been pushing, and despite one very serious faux pas called Cuties, they’re still at the top of their game, and it doesn’t look as though they’re going to be toppled any time soon. What might happen in the years to come is uncertain, but one thing that we’re being told repeatedly is that ads won’t be an issue and that the network will more or less go forward as it’s been, without resorting to using ads.
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