Netflix's forthcoming film The Wonder, starring Niamh Algar: the streamer is launching a Basic with Ads plan in 12 countries in November, but there is no launch date yet for the Irish market. Photograph: Aidan Monaghan/NetflixNext week is a big week for Netflix. The third season of dating show Love is Blind is due to drop, though that’s not why.
Interestingly not waiting around for the quarterlies to do so, the Californian company has just updated investors on a critical part of its mission to calm nerves and spur revenues: advertising. Basic with Ads, a plan with four to five minutes of adverts running before and in many instances during its titles now has confirmed November launch dates for 12 countries.
After years of decrying the merits of advertising, the speed with which Netflix has moved to incorporate it on its platform has been dizzying. As recently as July, when it signed an ad technology partnership with experienced hands Microsoft, it officially identified “around the early part of 2023″ as the expected launch date.
The acceleration of its plans to November 2022 allows it to beat the similarly advert-keen Disney Plus to market. The move also gives it something else to talk about at a time when subscriber growth has stalled, with the outlook inevitably recession-tinged.