As Netflix preps for their ad-supported tier that is launching next year, subscribers might find themselves unable to access some of the services titles available on their regular plan as the Chief Content Officer and Netflix Co CEO Ted Sarandos just admitted during the most recent earnings call that the upcoming subscription option will not include any of their licensed content at launch. It will be missing shows and movies from both US and international studios and distributors unless the company can successfully convince them to change the deal they originally agreed to.

Netflix is currently working with studios to work on deals to be able to make their shows available for streaming alongside advertisements. Netflix is also renegotiating its deal with Warner Bros, Universal, and Sony Pictures about this. Netflix will probably have to renegotiate the terms for some of the older shows it carries. During the earnings call, Sarandos said, “Today, the vast majority of what people watch on Netflix, we can include in the ad-supported. There’s some things that don’t and we’re in conversations with the studios on, but if we launched the product today, members in the ad-tier would have a great experience. We will clear some additional content but certainly not all of it but don’t think it’s a material holdback for the business.”

Netflix also admitted that they lost nearly 1 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2022, still earning a $1.44 billion net profit, expecting to add a net 1,000,000 subscribers in the next quarter, but they are hoping that some of the measures they’re taking. Will help them grow again.