Netflixis about to get a bit cheaper, though that new pricing comes with an asterisk and a few ads in between those binge-watching sessions, with the company revealing its first ad-supported subscription in full.
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As per the company’s official press release on the matter, Netflix’s Basic with Ads will be available starting November 3 at 9 am PT, at a price of $6.99 per month. However, it will only cater to 12 exclusive markets in this first stage, namely the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and the UK. Now, how the ads will work differs a little from what was believed to be the company’s strategy, as commercial breaks will either be 15 or 30 seconds long, but will pop up both before and while users are watching content on the platform.
It bears saying that the original piece of news had hinted at Netflix slashing the price of its most popular Standard plan, currently going for $15.49 a month, by almost half. So combined with the added restrictions, Basic with Ads hardly seems like the most exciting product. Currently, the Basic subscription costs $9.99 with no ads, and with the enhanced resolution announcement it would certainly appear to be the better deal for those on a tight budget,especially with Netflix having so many failed originals.
On top of that, with 1080p being the industry standard for watching movies and shows, 720p is still a significant downgrade, and even if prices scale down to adjust to different economies, Basic with Ads is still limited to more developed countries. Compared toDisney Plus' plans to start its ad-supportedbracket at $7.99, it’s hard to pin down just who exactlyNetflixis targeting with this strategy.
