Netflix Basic with Ads is launching in November, will cost $6.99 per month
Netflix has announced its ad-supported plan, it's called Basic with Ads. The new plan is launching next month and costs $7, as expected.
Netflix Basic with Ads
Features and limitations
The company has partnered with Microsoft to build its ad-supported plan. Subscribers will be able to stream content on PC/Laptop, TV, phone and tablet. The ad-supported tier is capped to an HD resolution of 720p. One thing to note here is that Netflix Basic's resolution has been upgraded from 480p to 720p as well.
Netflix Basic with Ads does not support downloading TV shows and movies for offline viewing. This limitation is in place because it is an ad-supported plan. Speaking of which, how will Netflix Basic with Ads work?
The streaming service will display video ads at the beginning and the middle of the video that you select. The video ads will play for 15 seconds and 30 seconds (20 seconds in Spain). Netflix says that it will show a maximum of 4-5 minutes of ads per hour of playback. The company says that it has adjusted the frequency of the ads to prevent repetition of the same advertisements.
Netflix's ad-supported tier will have a wide range of TV shows and movies that you can watch, but some titles will not available for streaming due to some licensing issues. This likely affects new shows and movies from third-party studios, that is understandable.
Users can upgrade to an ad-free plan or downgrade to the new ad-supported tier at anytime.
Netflix Basic with Ads availability and pricing
Netflix Basic with Ads will be available in 12 Countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US.
The service will debut its ad-supported tier on 1st November in Canada and Mexico. The new plan will be available for users in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the UK and the US from November 9th. Subscribers in Spain will be able to access the service from November 10th.
Here are the prices of the Netflix Basic with Ads plan (price/month)
- Australia - AU$ 6.99
- Brazil - R$ 18.90
- Canada - CA$ 5.99
- France - €5.99
- Germany - €4.99
- Italy - €5.49
- Japan - ¥790
- Mexico - MXN $99
- South Korea - KRW 5,500
- Spain - €5.49
- United Kingdom - £4.99
- United States - $6.99
The Netflix Basic with Ads plan will cost $6.99 per month in the US. It's only $3 cheaper than the ad-free Basic plan that costs $9.99, the latter is ad-free and allows downloading shows and movies. You can learn more about the prices by selecting your Country here.
Image courtesy: Netflix (YouTube)
A few things to note
Netflix's press call video didn't mention some things, but a web page on the company's support portal highlights a few more limitations in the ad-supported plan. It says that users will only be able to watch videos on 1 device at a time. Subscribers can also play games offered by the service, and that games will not display ads. Netflix will not show ads on Kids profiles.
Netflix Basic with Ads will not allow users to skip ads or fast-forward them, it will however let you pause the playback. The ads are personalized for users based on their interactions, such as the genre of content that you are watching.
Will you be subscribing to Netflix Basic with Ads?
I opt for DVD-by-mail from Netflix’s original U.S. service. Probably better catalog, and without the annoyances that come with streaming services. (Unfortunately, I’m still stuck with Prime Video streaming annoyances…terrible UI, content, and customer manipulation.)
And that $7 plan will increase to $20 in a few years. Netflix offers nothing worthwhile to watch. Simply wait till these movies and shows are released on disc and purchase a copy for yourself.
I don’t understand why to pay to see ads, however it seems to be not expensive at all.
Thanks @Ashwin for the article! :]
So millions more people will pay an advertising company to advertise to them.
It’s absolutely brilliant. It’s like politicians who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to give political speeches.
Cancelled last remaining subscription of a service which failed to show me a live match of my favourite football club. Back then I dived into internet and found the stream. Since then so far so good.
In Netflix’s statement: “To help advertisers reach the right audience—and ensure our ads are more relevant for consumers—we’ll offer broad targeting capabilities by country and genre (e.g., action, drama, romance, sci-fi)…”
They say “broad” now, but it’s still targeted, i.e. not random, but based on YOU and your behavior, and therefore a privacy abuse that will likely become more intrusive over time. Set up Pi-hole on your home network now, in order to block these tracker scripts (even if the ads themselves might be unblockable).
By the way, notice how Amazon Prime Video, too, is promoting so much ad-supported content lately? All intermixed into the “included with Prime” content; it’s now impossible to only view Prime content, but easy to filter by ad-supported content. I suspect Amazon is trying to ease subscribers into an eventual paid subscription model that is also full of juicy, lucrative-for-them ads.
I have every movie/series i want on dvd.And if i want to see a movie/series i don’t have i pirate.If it’s good i buy it,if it’s not i delete it.No need for Netflix.
To paraphrase: “First thing we do, we kill all the advertisers.”
Maybe not the advertisers themselves, maybe not the ad business, but its extravagances, its excess for sure.
Space-based advertising on its way? [https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/05/space-billboards-could-cost-65m-and-still-turn-a-profit/] : you’ll never see the sky the same way …
No limit to insanity.
Should Netflix be free of charge that I wouldn’t use its service. A restaurant or a hot-dog at the corner of the street rather than MacDo, a café rather than Starbucks, a cinema rather than Netflix, alternatives rather than GAFAM products and services. Nothing political. Free markets in a free world and free choices as well.
Mmm, difficult decision.
1) Pay for Netflix with ads, only watch on one device at a time and spend an hour just trying to find something even mediocre to watch – before giving up.
2) Continue watching free broadcast TV with ads, watch on multiple devices around the house at a time and have more content than I have time to watch. I’ve literally got stuff queued up to watch.
Netflix is just another typical Silicon Valley company; starts off as an interesting idea, but is ultimately just another greedy American company trying to fleece everyone with over-hyped crap. Maybe broadcast TV in America sucks, so they get away with it there.
These “anti american” folk are a disease. They shoehorn their hatred for America in absolutely anything they can. They think they come off as smart, intelligent, introspective, but they are just all petty people who want to “fit in”. At the end of the day they regurgitate nothing of value.
@Alex, indeed “anti-american” speech does exist and worse : anti-american thoughts, deeply anchored. What I mean is that a word of exasperation may not be relevant of deep thoughts. We often love to hate, even those we don’t truly hate, like brothers and sisters who can get rough towards each other yet, for the important matters, are and remain united. Not to mention that criticizing one aspect of a country, of a culture doesn’t imply global refusal of other of its aspects. I’ve lived in several countries and have my pros and cons for each even if I guess one must remain vigilant as to avoid generalization and consider as essential the fact of having experienced what one dares to define : clichés is the lot of ignorance.
I do love America myself, no problem :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjnA8Zn_3rU] : Yeah :=) … but some things do get on my nerves! In France as well, or in Switzerland, Netherlands … We can’t like or dislike everything, can we?!
@Tom That’s exactly right, Tom. Perhaps it’s more like you’re saying than how I see it. Perhaps it’s my selective attention and confirmation bias seeing all negative rhetoric about America on the internet. Although, there is a lot. lol
Just wish people could think for themselves instead of this groupthink I see. Then again, I find my samples on Twitter and Reddit where it’s basically a hivemind.
I’m not American myself but I have lived there many many years. I’m not some gung-ho American patriot that cannot see the cons of America or any of their wrong-doings, but I also know that it really is the land of opportunity (not saying it’s the only one). So it personally touches a nerve when I see shoehorned and gratuitous hatred for America. Even younger generations of Americans crap on their own country because they want to be accepted by a larger group and not deviated from the group’s consensus. Those “groups” being whatever social media or platform they frequent.
Anyways, I took that song to the gym today and worked out haha. Never heard it before!
Ah, I can see the next step coming. Becausing $6 for a basic ad-supported plan is still too much for many people, Netflix will soon launch its “ultra-basic” totally ad-supported plan for just $2. This new “ultra-basic” offer will simply remove films and series, leaving just ads, nothing but ads. But for a mere $2 you can watch all those ads, fulltime!
Lol! We call it RTL TV. They have tv programs that invite people who talk about other RTL tv programs – and their own RTL tv (products) programs. There are many long commercial breaks for companies who pay for this. Those breaks are so often and so long that where there is a program of the movie whose original size is 1.30 hours, will take at least 2.30 hours.
Netflix are digging their own graves.
Streaming content with Ads should be free. Paying €4.99 for ads and only 720p for mostly lame entertainment. No thanks.
It looks like a marketing strategy to make the more attractive plans look better value. They don’t.
Paying to see ads. What a privilege. I can barely contain my enthusiasm for it. Lower screen resolution too. What more could you want.