Netflix Announces New Cheaper Tier With Ads Will Be Coming In November
Image Source(s): CNBC
Earlier this year, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings disclosed that the company was planning to provide a cheaper, ad-supported tier alongside their currently offered price plans following a 200,000 subscriber loss in 2022’s first quarter. Only five months after that initial confirmation, the streaming giant has officially announced on Twitter that this fourth price option, Basic with Ads, will launch on November 3rd, priced at $6.99 a month.
In an explainer posted on its website, Netflix confirms that this new tier will not affect its Basic, Standard, or Premium plans. The Basic with Ads plan will also have the same standard video resolution (720p/HD) as the current Basic tier price option. Advertisements will play before and during both television shows and films and last 15 or 30 seconds, with about 4 or 5 minutes of advertisement play per hour of streaming. Alongside the presence of advertising, another critical difference in the new Basic with Ads plan is that customers will not be able to download titles for offline viewing, and various films and shows will be unavailable for the time being due to licensing restrictions.
The company retains pop culture dominance with platform-produced titles such as Luke Cage, Stranger Things, The Witcher, and the Emmy-winning Korean drama Squid Game. Netflix had previously been averse to introducing ads to the platform. However, in a crowded streaming market and with economic pressures also affecting consumer spending habits, that stance has changed significantly. The $6.99 Basic with Ads tier (to be available in 12 countries in total) has been touted as a cheaper option that will expand consumer choice.
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Source(s): Twitter, Netflix, TechCrunch