Netflix ads plan

Rumours about Netflix adding commercials are now a reality. The platform has launched a lower-priced, ad-supported plan. The Netflix ads plan is cheaper but comes with commercials and a few other changes.

How much does Netflix Basic with ads cost?

In Canada, Netflix Basic with ads costs $5.99 a month. That’s a 40% discount on the existing Netflix Basic plan, which is $9.99 a month. You will only be able to view 1 stream at a time, which is the same as the current Basic plan.

What’s different about Netflix Basic with ads?

Besides being cheaper and featuring ads, Netflix Basic with ads differs from Netflix’s other plans in the following ways:

• A limited number of movies and TV shows will not be available due to licensing restrictions.
• You cannot download titles, which is a feature available with all other Netflix plans.
• Some devices like Apple TV do not work with Netflix Basic with ads.

Netflix said it was planning to reduce the number of unavailable titles over time. Titles unavailable at the launch of the tier include The Office (US), Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, Schitt’s Creek, Murdoch Mysteries, Heartland.

When asked about how much of the Netflix catalogue would not be available in the plan, Netflix COO Greg Peters said in a video presentation accompanying the announcement, “In some countries, you can think about it in the 5–10% range.”

Canada has come out a little better than the prediction listed by Peters. Just 4.98% of the Netflix library isn’t available via the ad-tier plan in Canada.

How many ads will be screened?

Netflix said that ads will be 15 or 30 seconds long and will play before and during shows and movies. It’s expected to average around 4–5 minutes of ads per hour of viewing.

There will also be “some tight frequency caps so members don’t see the same ad repeatedly,” Peters said. This is to avoid a common complaint with ads on streaming services, where the same ad plays over and over.

Netflix plans to not disrupt the viewing experience too much with ads during shows and movies. “We’ll find those natural break points that we can deliver the ad in the least obtrusive point,” Peters said about where ads will appear during programs.

Peters highlighted that the latest-release movies on Netflix will likely only have ads screened before they play, which is called a pre-roll. “The new movies, for example, will just have a pre-roll ad experience, so we’ll try to preserve that cinematic model there,” he said.

There will be ads screened during older movies but expect the ad breaks to be more spaced out yet playing for a longer time in those breaks. “Those breaks will be less frequent essentially, but with slightly longer ads in them,” Peters said.

I’m already a subscriber. How does Netflix adding commercials affect me?

Existing subscribers will not be impacted unless they choose to switch plans. If you already subscribe to Netflix, you will remain on your current plan at the same price, and it will remain ad-free. However you may now switch to the cheaper, ad-supported plan if you want to.

Is anything else changing with Netflix?

As part of this new plan, the video quality increased to 720p/HD for the existing Basic plan, which was previously only in 480p/SD. Netflix Basic with ads is also in 720p/HD, which means the entire Netflix library is now in either HD or ultra HD.

Netflix Canada: Price, features and content

Is Netflix Basic with ads worth it?

On face value, saving 40% on your Netflix subscription and only paying $5.99 a month is a positive.

But you have to weigh this up with how you feel about the other changes. If you’re okay with ads during viewing, you’re fine and could totally take up this option. However, this approach contrasts with the initial lure of streaming, which was watching content without ads.

If you download a lot of titles to watch on the go, then you can’t do this on the Netflix Basic with ads plan.

The loss of some content might be an issue too, if you happen to lose one of your favourite titles. A lot of titles missing are ones Netflix has licensed from other studios, so many landmark titles are missing from this tier.

If you do all your viewing of Netflix through an Apple TV, this new plan is not for you, as the tier currently does not work on the streaming device. However, there are plans to change this in the future.

Netflix still doesn’t offer a free trial, but there are plenty of other streaming services that let you try for free like Amazon Prime and Hayu.

You can look through the 6,000+ titles on Netflix’s ad-tier plan below to see if it’s worth downgrading and saving yourself money.