Netflix with ads is finally happening. The streaming company on Thursday launched “Basic with Ads”- its first-ever affordable ad-supported subscription plan for those who can sit through ads between shows and movies in exchange for a pocket-friendly subscription plan.
Basic with Ads will cost $6.99 a month and will be available in 12 countries- Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US. It will be different from the existing Basic plan and will not affect the other existing ad-free plans.
“None of this would have been possible without our team’s hard work or Microsoft’s extraordinary partnership. The switch from linear is happening at an ever-increasing speed, with streaming now surpassing broadcast and cable in the US. We’re confident that with Netflix starting at $6.99 a month, we now have a price and plan for every fan,” the video-streaming company said while announcing the plan in its official blog post.
Basic with Ads subscribers will have the option to change or cancel the plan anytime they want. The new plan along with the existing Basic plan will offer video quality of 720p/HD with no ability to download titles. Also, a few movies and TV shows won’t be available to these subscribers due to licensing issues which Netflix says it is working on.
Netflix’s Basic with Ads will have 15 to 30 seconds long ads playing before and during shows and films. Netflix will offer ‘broad targeting capabilities by country and genre’ to help advertisers reach the right audience and prevent showing ads on irrelevant content. Netflix has partnered with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science to verify the viewability and traffic validity of ads.
ALSO READ | How to use ‘profile transfer’ feature on Netflix before its password-sharing crackdown comes into effect | Tech Tips
