Netflix will soon be offering everyone in India free access to the website for a weekend as a way of expanding its reach in the country. Called Streamfest, this is being piloted as a method of attracting new users.
The company’s Chief Product Officer and COO Greg Peters said during the company’s earnings call that they are coming up with new ways to get new customers.
“An idea that we're excited about, and we'll see how it goes, but we think that giving everyone in a country access to Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great way to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories that we have, the service, how the service works, really create an event and hopefully get a bunch of those folks to sign up. So we're going to try that in India, and we'll see how that goes. And that's just an example of the kind of innovation that we seek to do in this space,” he said.
This will be part of Netflix’s ‘Streamfest’ event, where all content will be free to view for 48 hours, regardless of whether you pay for the service or not. This starts from December 4 and will be available for 48 hours.
In addition, this doesn’t require one’s payment details, as signing up for a Netflix trial earlier required.
Evidence of Netflix’s event was first reported by XDADevelopers, who found it in the latest version of the Netflix app for Android. “We don't need any payment details — just your love and undivided attention," a text string found in the app reportedly says.
Earlier this month, Netflix pulled the 30-day free trial. Its plans currently start at Rs 199 for 480p that one can only stream on the mobile in India. Its basic plan starts at Rs 499 for one screen at 480p, going upto Rs 649 for two screens that can stream in full HD, and Rs 799 for upto four screens with 4K and HDR resolution.