The contours are taking shape for Netflix’s advertising-supported offering, with the streamer projecting that it will reach 40 million new “unique viewers” with the new service within the next 12 months. The actual number of subscribers will be somewhat lower, since a single subscribing household may have multiple unique viewers.
This estimate was referenced in materials Netflix and its advertising sales partner Microsoft are using with potential advertisers, as they move to lock down its initial launch partners. The new service is expected to debut by the end of the year, perhaps as soon as November 1st.
By the end of the year, Netflix projects that the new service will reach 4.4 million “unique viewers” globally (1.1 million in the U.S.) and by this time next year will be viewed by 40 million new consumers (13.3 million in the U.S). It will be a tremendous accomplishment if Netflix is able to meet these ambitious goals to expand its audience, having re-established growth in a maturing and intensely competitive market. Up to this point, Netflix’s 220 million subscribers have been unavailable to advertisers, and now represent an attractive, new channel for major brands to reach consumers online.