Netflix Reports 2% Viewing Growth as It Floats Ad-Funded Free Tier

3 articles · Updated · Forbes · Jul 15

1.5 billion additional viewing hours lifted Netflix's first-half 2026 total by 2%, and management used the Q2 call to argue that engagement should be judged by subscription, advertising and loyalty impact—not raw hours alone.
5% of Netflix's content budget will go to live programming this year for just 1% of viewing hours, Peters said, while six of its 10 biggest sign-up days in five years came from live events.
A free Netflix offering "could make sense in some markets," Peters said, but only where advertising is large enough to support the economics without pulling users from paid tiers; no near-term launch is planned.
300 titles have already used generative AI tools, and one documentary produced 17 minutes of AI-enhanced footage twice as fast and at half the cost, supporting Netflix's push for cheaper, more frequent programming to sell more ads.
Netflix also pushed back on concerns about season-two audience drop-offs, saying declines have slightly improved this year, even as content spending is set to rise about 10% against only 2% viewing growth.