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In that case it would make more sense to let the users choose any of the plans and just offer an "Ads" Option that reduces the price by a fixed amount. That way they could also earn more with people who prefer 4k.
 
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Well, you can pick one of their other plans for better quality :). Although Netflix is a bit on the expensive side in general, I'd say.


Bitrate isn't everything either, as codec also matters a lot. But yeah, in my experience Netflix are doing ok in that department. I do think Apple TV+ is better, though.
Apple TV+ looks way better than Netflix. And you shouldn’t have to pay extra for 1080p OR 4K, as far as I’m aware only Netflix does this
 
To be honest how many people can genuinely see a difference between streamed 1080p and 4k? Not many I suspect. Sure it’s nice to have 4k but it really isn’t the dealbreaker that lazy lol comments would suggest.
Such a bs claim. Lots of people see a difference between a FullHD stream and a 4K stream, especially people with a tv of 60 inch or more.
 
Well, you can pick one of their other plans for better quality :). Although Netflix is a bit on the expensive side in general, I'd say.


Bitrate isn't everything either, as codec also matters a lot. But yeah, in my experience Netflix are doing ok in that department. I do think Apple TV+ is better, though.
Yeah, it’s true that codec matters a great deal. As far as I know Netflix is currently using a modern AV1 codec for the latest encodes for selected devices. Still I think Netflix is being too conservative with their bitrates for any given stream. As they upgrade to a newer codec they lower the bitrate too so the image quality doesn’t really improve as much as it could. They just don’t have to transfer as much data as before. But yeah, I’m sure for many people the quality is ’good enough’ 😊

Apple TV+ looks and sounds excellent indeed! 👍
 
In its Q1 2023 earnings report released on Tuesday, Netflix said that it would be increasing the video quality of its Basic With Ads tier to 1080p at no extra cost to subscribers. Additionally, it said it would increase the number of simultaneous streams from one to two.
That’s good news for budget subscribers, now how about decrease costs associated with your premium subscription.
 
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Lol. You can have two simultaneous streams, but we better not catch you using both at the same time! You need to pay extra for that.
 
Apple TV+ looks way better than Netflix. And you shouldn’t have to pay extra for 1080p OR 4K, as far as I’m aware only Netflix does this
Did you not notice this article? Also note this could be the reason Netflix adjusted resolution, they matched Max.
 
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I've noticed that Disney+ is doing something weird with password. They made me change the password twice when one of my 4 accounts tries to sign in and then everyone has to sign in again. Hello Disney? You allow four simultaneous viewers and avatars. o_O
 
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To be honest how many people can genuinely see a difference between streamed 1080p and 4k? Not many I suspect. Sure it’s nice to have 4k but it really isn’t the dealbreaker that lazy lol comments would suggest.
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I see everything...
 
Such a bs claim. Lots of people see a difference between a FullHD stream and a 4K stream, especially people with a tv of 60 inch or more.
Nice overreaction there. I’ve got 65 inch 4K tvs and a 4K projector. Yet very often in non sport broadcasts I can barely see any difference when watching 4k. Sure I’d like to think I’m getting a better experience from watching the 4k but it’s often a difficult sell.
 
So why is the Netflix Standard tier only 720p and it costs more?
The Standard plan is 1080p (i.e. Full HD), not 720p.

The Basics plan is 720p as was the Basics with Ads. But the latter is being upgraded to 1080p

So the ad plan is now superior to the basic plan. Higher resolution and more streams at a lower cost. Their pricing tiers make little sense.
In other words, no one has subscribed to it, the advertisers have complained so they have moved it up a level to match the Standard plan rather than the basic plan.

You people don't get it.

Since their Basic with Ads ($6.99/mo) plan generates more revenue, and therefore profit, than their Basics ($9.99/mo) with no Ads and Standard ($15.49/mo) plan, why wouldn't Netflix make the Basics with Ads plan better and more attractive than both either the Basics or Standard plans?

It could potentially attract new subscribers to sign up for it who otherwise wouldn't have before due to its lower resolution (than Standard plan) and limit to only 1 device/stream at a time (vs the 2 on the Standard plan)

Even if the Basics with Ads plan gets the subscribers to the Basic $9.99/mo plan or Standard $15.49/mo plan to downgrade to it, Netflix still wins.

As I noted yesterday from the shareholder letter...

In the US for instance, our ads plan already has a total ARM* (subscription + ads) greater than our standard plan. So this month we’ll upgrade the feature set of our ads plan to include 1080p versus 720p video quality and two concurrent streams in all 12 ads markets – starting with Canada and Spain today. We believe these enhancements will make our offering even more attractive to a broader set of consumers and further strengthen engagement for existing and new subscribers to the ads plan.

*ARM = Average Revenue per paid Member



This is a smart business decision.


This doesn't mean "no one has subscribed to it." On the contrary, the Basics with Ads plan is doing better than Netflix anticipated. Again, from their shareholder letter....

... our new ads plan allows us to offer consumers a lower price point. While it’s still very early days, we continue to be pleased with our progress across all key dimensions: member experience, value to advertisers and incremental contribution to our business. Engagement on our ads tier is above our initial expectations and, as expected, we’ve seen very little switching from our standard and premium plans. Also, thanks to our most recent set of licensing deals, our ad-supported plan now has on average ~95% content parity globally (by viewing) with our ads-free plans, including all the latest Netflix shows and movies.

We are pleased with the current performance and trajectory of our per-member advertising economics. In the US for instance, our ads plan already has a total ARM (subscription + ads) greater than our standard plan.
 
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Only worth it if they would

STOP TREATING THEIR SHOWS LIKE DISPOSABLE CAMERA AND CANCEL IT AFTER ONE OR TWO SEASON, EVEN IF IT’S POPULAR, BECAUSE ALGORITHM SAID SO………



Otherwise, one more price hike, and we’re done with Netflix, they clearly don’t care about viewers. Viewers don’t care if company offers cheaper plan, they want quality content like Hulu or Apple TV+ or Paramount+ provides. At the rate this is going, Netflix will die like Twitter.
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How intrusive are the ads? Do they run before, after or during the Videos. We have a 1080p TV and would give this option a try.
From Beebom

However, the ad-supported plan will still not let you download content for offline viewing. You will still get an average of 4-5 mins of ads per hour, lasting 15-30 seconds long. You will still see ads at the beginning and during a show and movie. Netflix has also not shared any information regarding changes to the presence of Digital Ads Ratings in the US.
Probably the most irritating example is crackle where ads interrupt with the same ad over and over, so hopefully it just simple mix of what’s pushed.
 
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