• by Wayne Friedman , April 25, 2023

Although Netflix's new ad-supported option is comparable to other streaming services -- about five minutes per hour of programming -- nearly half of Netflix's new customers believe its advertising messaging is either “a bit too much” or “far too much.”

A study by Aluma Research says 49% of Netflix’s ‘Basic with Ads’ new subscribers found the service to be “heavy,” while 17% find it to be excessive. Linear TV can have  from 13 to 17 minutes of non-programming content per hour, depending on the network.

But existing Netflix subscribers -- those who have had its standard ad-free service -- don’t feel the advertising component is too much.

Aluma says 28% of ad-supported Netflix subscribers that switched from an ad-free tier found the ad load far “too heavy.” This was 2.3 times greater than new subscribers who signed up for “Basic with Ads.”

The research also shows that half of ad-supported Netflix users who are new to the service are age 65 and older -- four times higher that those who switched to “Basic with Ads” from its Netflix's standard ad-free service.

Overall, about 40% of those who made the switch from Netflix's standard ad-free service to the cheaper $6.99-a-month service say the advertising is “about right.”

In February, Netflix has told media agencies it had 600,000 “monthly active users” for its three-month old advertising option -- three times the level it launched with in November 2022.

Around the time that Netflix launched its ad option, executives touted initial subscriber estimates for the service at around 1.75 million.

Aluma surveyed 1,947 US adult broadband users in charge of purchasing media services for their household who watch SVOD services on TV.