Netflix may launch its ad-supported tier in Australia as soon as November, as it starts briefing advertising buyers about what to expect from the service.

The service will feature four minutes of ads per hour, mid rolls on TV series only, 15 and 30 second pre and post rolls on every other programme, and a limit of three ads from any brand per day to users.

The service will roll out in the US as early as November 1, with Australia and eleven other markets launching either simultaneously or as close to this as possible.

If it hits this planned launch date, it will beat Disney+ into the ad-supported Australian market.

This move to an ad-supported tier will cap a disastrous year for the streaming leader.

Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers in the March quarter, the first time its subscriber numbers went backwards in the company’s history.

The June quarter was even worse, with worldwide subscribers dropping by one million, a great deal less than its predicted two million, but still a major shedding.

Unfortunately, although they managed to slow the bleeding on a global scale, in the US and Canada, which is by far its biggest market, Netflix lost 1.28 million subs during the quarter, more than double the 600,000 drop it suffered during the March quarter.

The Asia Pacific region is the company’s saviour, with 1.1 million paid members added, up from the 1 million for the year prior, and almost enough to counter the drop off in the US and Canada.

The company will be using the APAC region as a testing ground for further global expansion.