Netflix Announces Basic Service With Ads for $6.99 a Month
If you’re looking for a cheaper way to feed your Netflix addiction, the streaming service has a new option available — but you’ll have to sit through advertisements to enjoy it.
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On Thursday, Netflix announced the upcoming launch of its new Basic with Ads plan, which offers a subscription price of only $6.99 a month in the United States. The ad-supported plan will launch on Nov. 3, 2022, at 9 p.m. Pacific time.
The $6.99 monthly price is $3 cheaper than Netflix’s basic plan that doesn’t have ads, CNBC reported. Its standard plan is $15.49 a month.
Current plans and members will not be impacted by Basic with Ads, Netflix said. Instead, the ad-supported plan is designed to complement its existing ad-free Basic, Standard and Premium plans. In addition to the U.S., Basic with Ads will be available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and the UK.
When Netflix’s new plan launches, ads will be 15 to 30 seconds long and play before and during shows and films, for an average of four to five minutes of ads per hour. Ads will be customized by country and genre.
The video resolution for Netflix’s advertising tier will be 720p instead of 1080p, which is the quality of Netflix’s standard plan. The company’s basic plan without advertising also has 720p resolution.
As CNBC noted, Netflix’s ad-supported plan comes amid a recent slowdown in subscribers. The company lost subscribers during the first two quarters of 2022 and is expected to add about 1 million in the third quarter, which is considered a weak number. Netflix is still the world’s largest streaming service, with about 221 million subscribers.
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The new ad-supported plan is priced below similar plans from rivals Disney+ and Hulu, both of which are owned by The Walt Disney Company. Those ad tiers will cost $7.99 a month when they launch in December. HBO Max’s ad-supported plan is $9.99 a month, CNBC reported.
Viewers still have cheaper ad-supported options at Paramount+ and Peacock, both of which charge $4.99 a month for basic plans with ads.
Netflix has lined up hundreds of advertisers for its launch and has nearly sold out its inventory, the company said in a media call. Initially, there will be no advertising within kids’ programs or new movies. Older movies might have mid-roll ads.
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