Netflix has signed up as a subscriber to use Kantar’s audience measurement data services in Brazil, the analytics and consulting firm announced Tuesday.
Starting in January 2023 Netflix will get access to Kantar data showing a cross-platform view of performance alongside linear and on-demand networks and platforms.
“As viewing habits change, we’re supportive of Kantar’s efforts to deliver cross-platform measurement that improves our understanding of audience behaviors, and we’re excited about the opportunity to grow our share and entertain more members with must-watch shows and films,” said Pablo Perez De Rosso, Netflix VP of Strategy, Planning & Analysis, in a statement.
Antonio Wanderley, CEO of Latin America, Spain, APAC & Africa, Media Division at Kantar, in a statement pointed to the need for a single view of audience data.
“It has never been more important for media companies to seek a single view of their audience in order to unlock sustained growth,” Wanderley said in a statement. “Netflix’s decision to join our service further strengthens our industry-accepted audience measurement.”
Brazil is one of the markets that Netflix last month launched its Basic with Ads plan, a lower cost tier that includes commercials on the SVOD service. Speaking at a UBS investor conference last week, Netflix content chief and co-CEO Ted Sarandos said over time it’s likely that Netflix will introduce multiple tiers with ads, similar to how it has multiple plan options for commercial-free versions of the streaming service.
In the third quarter Netflix added 312,000 net subscribers in Latin America, ending September with a base of 39.9 million in the region. Revenues in Latin America grew to $1.02 billion in Q3.
Certain markets in Latin America, including Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, are where Netflix first rolled out tests of paid sharing models, charging customers extra for users outside of their household for using a single account.
Taking aim at password sharing to monetize account sharing is becoming a stronger focus for the streamer as it looks to drive revenue growth, with plans to launch mechanisms to get paid for multiple households sharing accounts more widely in early 2023.
At UBS’s Global TMT conference on December 6, Sarandos said an ad-tier gives a place for paid sharing to land.
“You think about potential for a softer landing for folks either who are paying for the first time or for who are looking, who have some economic strain today,” Sarandos said. “So I think it gives more optionality. And every time we have added more optionality works.”
In terms of learnings from markets in Latin America where paid sharing was tested, Sarandos said the good news is users who take on paid sharing all already watching Netflix, spending hours on the platform.
“I would say in all this testing that we've been doing around the world, it feels a lot like the way you manage a price increase. So it's really revenue positive and it should be market expanding,” he said, while noting he doesn’t think consumers are going to love it right out of the gate.
“We've got to land in a way that they will, and they'll see the value in Netflix so much so that they're happy to have their own account,” Sarandos continued.
As Netflix is poised to get more data from Kantar, the company’s Q3 Entertainment on Demand report showed the SVOD giant experienced about 5% churn from U.S. subscribers in the third quarter, a slight improvement from the 6% churn it saw in Q2.
In its survey of 11,435 U.S. streaming customers, the top three factors cited for driving new signups at Netflix in the third quarter, according to Kantar, were specific content (35%), value for money (29%) and ease of use (25%).