Netflix ad-supported tier coming to 12 countries next month

Today Netflix finally made the long-awaited ad-supported tier official, but only for the the following 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK, and the US. If you think the current base Netflix subscription is too expensive and are willing to put up with ads, then you can opt for the new tier which will set you back $6.99 in the US or CAD 5.99 in Canada or £4.99 in the UK each month.

The new plan is called Basic with Ads, and it's arriving in November - specifically November 1 in Canada, and November 3 in the US and UK.

You get video quality up to 720p/HD and an "average of 4 to 5 minutes of ads per hour". At launch, ads will be 15 to 30 seconds in length each, and will play before and during shows and films. While most of the Netflix catalog should be included, "a limited number" of TV shows and movies won't be due to licensing restrictions, which Netflix promises it's working on. You also won't be able to download stuff if you go with this plan.

Nothing changes with the existing plans, Basic with Ads is meant to complement Basic, Standard, and Premium and lower the barrier of entry into the Netflix stable, as it were. Although we have to wonder how many of the people who aren't subscribers yet will finally decide to take the plunge now that a slightly cheaper tier is available. We'll probably find out in a few months when Netflix reports on how well the new plan has been doing.

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