Paying the lowest price for Netflix means putting up with five minutes of 15-30 second commercials every hour and watching lower-res shows without offline downloads.
- What is happening? Netflix has officially released initial information about its low-cost new plan coming in November that requires you to watch ads.
- Why care? Having raised prices over the years, Netflix is no longer the affordable video service it once was. Perhaps the introduction of an advertising level will help the company attract new customers and reduce customer churn.
- What to do? Check current plans and pricing on the Netflix website to see if you’re overpaying for Netflix.
Ad-supported Netflix plan launches in November
The Netflix Blog announced that the new ad plan will arrive in November at $7 per month in the United States. Initially available in only twelve countries, the plan is due to go live November 3rd at 9:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET.
Ads will be 15 or 30 seconds long. They will not appear on children’s profiles.
The current basic plan starts at $10 per month, giving you the ability to watch shows in HD resolution on a single device. The upcoming plan, dubbed “Basic with Ads,”will be the company’s cheapest option.
Limitations of Netflix Basic with Ads
In exchange for $7 a month, Netflix will let you watch ad-supported shows, meaning 720p resolution, on one supported phone, tablet, computer, or TV at a time. Ads will run before or during most TV shows and movies. Netflix won’t let you skip ads, and it will average four to five minutes of ads per hour. Read: How to log out of all Netflix devices at the same time
Netflix has also stated that downloading shows for offline viewing will not be supported. Some movies and shows won’t be available to members of this plan due to licensing restrictions, but Netflix is working on it.
Netflix games are available in this plan ad-free.
Where and when will Netflix launch this plan?
The Basic with Ads plan will be available in the following countries:
Nov. 1
- Canada
- Mexico
the 3rd of November
- Australia
- Brazil
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- United Kingdom
- United States
10th of November
- Spain
Netflix expects to expand this plan to more countries over time.
New users can subscribe to the Basic with Ads plan, and existing users can switch to it on their Netflix online profile. “We’re confident that with Netflix starting at $6.99 a month, we now have a price and plan for every fan,”says Netflix.
For more information on the Basic Ads plan, please read the Netflix support document.