By Sam Boughedda
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) expects its ad-supported tier to hit approximately 40 million viewers globally by the third quarter of 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The publication said documents it viewed revealed Netflix and advertising partner Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) executives met with ad buyers in recent weeks in an attempt to lock in deals ahead of the ad-tier launch.
It is reported that Netflix's told ad executives that its preliminary projections forecast 4.4 million unique viewers worldwide at the end of the year, with 1.1 million coming from the US, while it expects that to grow to more than 40 million unique viewers by the third quarter of 2023, with 13.3 million from the US.
The WSJ said the projections covered various markets, including Brazil, Spain, Japan, the UK, Korea, France, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Italy, and Canada.
The "projected unique viewers" is anticipated to be higher than the number of subscribers for the ad-supported tier, as more than one person in a household will likely generally be able to watch the service.