This week’s FWD follows the Netflix and Microsoft collaboration announcement for ad-supported subscriptions set to go live in early 2023. The streaming service will offer cheaper subscription plans to customers with adverts, following Netflix’s first subscriber loss in more than a decade due to increased subscription rates.

Netflix has revealed that if the ad-supported product were to be offered now, plans would not include all of the content you can currently watch on the streaming service but will not reveal which shows won’t be included until the official launch.

News:

• Elon Musk seeks to end his $44bn bid to buy Twitter, following Twitter’s failure to provide enough information on the number of spam and fake accounts.
• Following a successful pilot launch in the US, Instagram introduces a new Creator Marketplace, where brands can discover creators to collaborate with.

Startup:

• Preply is an e-learning language platform that has over 140,000 tutors. Students can learn over 50 languages across 203 countries worldwide.

Insights:

• WhatsApp rolls out a new feature, enabling users to add any emoji they like as a reaction to specific messages.
• As a means to facilitate more engagement, Twitter has launched an initial test of collaborative tweets between users.
• TikTok has launched a ‘How to’ guide for marketers to optimise retail and eCommerce on the platform.
• Spotify has acquired a musical trivia game, Heardle. The streamer plans to use the game as a music discovery tool.