Netflix to launch cheaper subscription with ads next month

Netflix has announced that an ad-supported version of its platform will be launched in a few territories in November. The new subscription, 'Basic with Ads', will cost $6.99, which is $3 less than the cheapest current plan without ads.

The ad-supported subscription will be rolled out in 12 countries over 10 days, including USA, Brazil and Japan.

As reported by Reuters, this plan has been introduced in response to Netflix's first net quarterly loss of subscribers earlier in Q1 2022. At the time, the company had said that an ad-supported revenue stream was likely to counteract the loss of revenue caused by users sharing accounts.

The report has not been verified independently by YourStory.

"We at Netflix have a huge opportunity ahead to grow our unit and to attract more subscribers. And part of that is having a wide range of pricing plans," said COO Greg Peters.

Subscribers to this new plan will be asked to see 4-5 minutes of ads for every hour of video streamed. Newly released films will have limited advertisements to retain the cinematic feel. Additionally, 5-10% of Netflix's programming will not be available for the ad-supported subscription due to licensing issues.

Shares of Netflix were up 5.4% at $232.86 by late afternoon trading on Thursday. Prior to this, the company's stock price had been down 62% this year.