Netflix Announces 'Basic With Ads' Plan Priced at $6.99 Per Month

[jhromeror]

They better be hi quality ads.

From respect brands only.

If it is youtube type ads.

It’s gonna be full of scams and ****.

rest assured your content will be delivered in 720p but the add experience will be 4k and up!

 

[StanleyOmar]

For those who cannot afford to pay the additional $3!

Every couple months you can use the savings to treat yourself to a nice frappe.

Realistically, if you can't afford to spend an extra $3 across an entire month, you probably can't afford to be spending money on Netflix. I wonder how many new subscribers, which Netflix hopes are drawn to this new tier, are actually going to be enticed by this. If anything, someone might sign up, find themselves completely annoyed with the ads after a few months and just upgrade to get rid of them.

 

[Piggie]

seems silly to offer such a small discount.
who's going to want a months worth of ads for $3 ?

 

[Realityck]

While considering the ramifications of the new ad supported subscription. Yesterday Variety reported that Netflix has increased the amount of TV content considerably. The episode counts below don’t include licensed second-run shows, instead its just original and exclusive shows they stream.

see

Netflix Released Record-Breaking 1,024 Original TV Episodes in Q3 — More Than Five Times Any Other Service

Netflix broke its own record for number of original episodes released in a single quarter -- with 1,026 in the third quarter of 2022

variety.com

 

[GizmoDVD]

I don’t think they’re expecting anyone to actually pay for this.

Hulu's ad-supported has more subscribers over its ad-free. Every other service offers an ad-tier now. This will be a big driver, so big, they did it because Disney (!) and HBO (!) had to do the same.

I'll trust the data they have over russell 314.

 

[velocityg4]

Can't see doing this. There are lots of free services with ads. Funny thing is. It seems like half the time the show or movie I want to watch is on a free service with ads (Freevee, Pluto TV, Tubi TV). Not on one of my paid services (Netflix, Prime, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, Acorn TV or PBS Masterpiece).

I really wish those free services had a paid ad free option. I'd gladly pay for it.

 

[Reason077]

I have Paramount+ (Star Trek fan)

Do you think they’ll ever do a 4K remaster of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan? I saw the remaster of Star Trek 1 recently and it looked incredible. Of course, ST2 is the better film, but it just looks so grainy and dated now by comparison. Especially the scenes that they re-used from ST1 in ST2 - just looked so bad in ST2!

 

[burgman]

You can say that about almost anything. "Just pay." Don't like how this country operates? "Just pay" to buy a continent and form your own. Don't like how iPhone works? "Just pay" to invent your own phone. Don't like your wife? "Just pay" and create another human from the ground up.

Don't like people complaining about Netflix on MacRumors? "Just pay" to buy the site and ban those users. But can you afford to buy MacRumors? And even if you can, is it worth it to you to buy the site just so you can ban those people? Well, some people don't want to pay Netflix that amount and still get ads, and they don't want to pay more just so to get rid of those ads.

You can always say "just pay." However, affordability (how much different people can budget for something like this) and value (what you get for how much you pay) are also two relevant factors in intelligent conversations. In fact, I will change my opinion and agree with you if you will "just pay." But it's probably not worth it to you.

Point is many feel and act like they are entitled to free and are ok with stealing it. If they have jobs I’m going out on a limb and say they don’t work for free.

 

[7149041]

I'd understand if cheaper, ad supported plans were rolled out in low income countries first. But launching in countries like US or Germany seems a bit counterproductive.

 

[munpip214]

I’m sure we’ll get 4K ads to go with the 720 content 😂

 

[diskrisk]

Will ad blockers work on Netflix? If so, I can't wait for the savings

 

[Realityck]

Do you think they’ll ever do a 4K remaster of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan? I saw the remaster of Star Trek 1 recently and it looked incredible. Of course, ST2 is the better film, but it just looks so grainy and dated now by comparison. Especially the scenes that they re-used from ST1 in ST2 - just looked so bad in ST2!

Have you looked at the 4K remastered media? see this review

 

[contacos]

upgrading to 720p. What a disgrace

The worst part about all of this is that they will probably force writers / show creators to produce new content with ad breaks in mind and those annoying „little cliffhanger“, fade to black scene cuts like on broadcast tv

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

I see...

WELL GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!

 

[webkit]

Probably not a surprise Netflix priced their ad-supported plan just below Hulu and Disney+ ($6.99 versus $7.99) ad-supported plans.

If other streaming services like Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+ are any guide, a lot of customers will likely sign up for this new ad-supported plan.

Those that don't want ads can still get ad-free plans for as little as $9.99/month.

Sounds good for everyone who likes Netflix.

 

[compwiz1202]

I just hope that the ads are placed in between scenes/acts. I hate it when a character is talking, and it goes to ads mid-sentence.

They even do that to other ads on NBC Sports. And it's always to the first. It's on for like two second, and then it flips to the second ad

 

[mielie]

You get adverts and you still have to pay!? No thanks Netflix. This story has at least reminded me I needed to cancel my Netflix subscription. Thanks!

 

[compwiz1202]

For me, it depends. How much ad time per content hours, and are they annoying ads and/or or repeated way too often. I would pay like a $1 more to be able to thumbs up/down ads. Within reason of course. I'd be pumping thumbs down for the annoying Carvana lady!!! I'm scrambling for the ATV remote for mute no matter what I'm doing to hit mute. Guess I could just yell Hey, Siri, MUTE!!!

 

[ELman]

You’re going to pay only $3 less and subject yourself to ads? Who is this for?

The same people that drive 20 miles extra to save 5 cents a gallon on gas.

 

[robertosh]

I bet that adds will be shown in 4k

 

[Canubis]

You’re going to pay only $3 less and subject yourself to ads? Who is this for?

Netflix' plan with this is to grow. Not to make a cheaper tier being so attractive that people would downgrade and save a few bucks (sure some may do).
But the key goal for Netflix is to grow by attracting new customers, for which 9.99 was too high so far. It's to be seen if 6.99 is a better price point, I am sure they will experiment with this – possibly we will see special promos during Black Friday and holidays with even lower entry price points to lure new people into their service.

Then at some point, you may want to get rid of ads… what is 3$ extra, right? Maybe get more quality and share the account with a "family member" seems convenient? And boom they created another subscriber paying 10-15 bucks each month that wouldn't have subscribed for this amount from the beginning.
We all know it works, Apple got me with 0.99 for iCloud, then 4.99 for Apple Music Students not long ago… I am now paying them over 30 bucks each month… 😅

 

[Jimmy_Banks]

Reminder - you don't like ads? Pay $9.99. You are not forced to sign up for this plan.

Ready for the "ads suck. Netflix sucks. bla bla bla".

Just pay $10 and no ads.

Reminder - You don't like the direction and content of Netflix? Cancel and send a message.

Just pay $0 and subscribe to better services.

 

[canadianreader]

Why is this posted on macrumors?! Your guys are desperate for click

Not really. Netflix is a direct competition to Apple TV

 

[Jimmy_Banks]

While considering the ramifications of the new ad supported subscription. Yesterday Variety reported that Netflix has increased the amount of TV content considerably. The episode counts below don’t include licensed second-run shows, instead its just original and exclusive shows they stream.

see

Netflix Released Record-Breaking 1,024 Original TV Episodes in Q3 — More Than Five Times Any Other Service

Netflix broke its own record for number of original episodes released in a single quarter -- with 1,026 in the third quarter of 2022

variety.com

Too bad 98% of it is trash.

A decade ago Netflix Original's were for the most part high quality content shows. Now they have like 4 original content shows worth watching.

 

[jimbobb24]

Ads unfortunately encourage longer content which feeds into a problem almost all streaming platforms have…without the constraints of set television schedules each episode has about 10 extra minutes and each series has 3 extra shows. This will only make that worse. YouTube has strongly favored long form content to eek out a few more adds and make channels profitable. This tier may hurt even the paying customers by encouraging more bloat.