All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately, one of the last bastions of somewhat affordable, add-free streaming entertainment has fallen. Netflix is ending their cheapest ad-free plan, the Basic plan. The company has been phasing it out for months in countries where an option to watch with ads had already been added, but now it’s begun notifying users in the UK and Canada that beginning on July 13, they needed to choose a new plan or be cut off. There’s currently no timeline for when their Basic plan will be removed in the EU or the US, though if you want to switch plans, that Basic plan is no longer an option. Users are understandably annoyed at having the choice between a cheaper plan with ads or a more expensive one without ads. The bright side, however, is that in the US, the new Standard with Ads plan is actually $5 cheaper than the ad-free one that’s being eliminated. It’s $4 cheaper in Canada and £3 less in the UK.
The Choice To Add More Fees Or More Ads:Netflix users took their dissatisfaction with Netflix’s action to Reddit, where they discussed the new development. Apparently, those subscribed to the Basic Netflix plan, which is currently priced at $11.99 per month, will soon have to choose to either switch to a new Basic plan priced at $6.99 or a Standard plan for $15.49. Seems like a no-brainer, considering that the new price of a Basic plan is now more than 40% cheaper, but the downside is that the new Basic plan is supported by ads.
Back To Not-So-Basics: Yes, you read that right: The new Netflix plan, the one we previously paid for to avoid pesky advertisements, now contains the ads. However, the equivalent service to the soon-abandoned Basic plan is now called Standard, and its price went up by almost 30%. Now, it’s important to note that most of the users receiving notifications about the price hike are located in the U.K. and Canada. This actually reflects Netflix’s previous announcement regarding the discontinuation of the old Basic plan we all came to love.
Forcing The Hands Of Subscribers: However, the company still hasn’t revealed when it will phase out the Basic plan for the existing U.S. subscribers and implement the new Netflix plans and prices. The newly formed subscription plans are priced at $6.99 for the ad-supported Basic plan, $15.49 for the Standard, and a 4K Premium plan that is completely ad-free and costs $22.99. But—and there’s always some “but” rearing its ugly head—things aren’t really as they seem, as more and more companies engage in mandatory arbitrations.
Targeted Advertisements Are To Be Expected: Namely, Netflix is now increasing the price of its former Basic plan and renaming it into Standard. Simultaneously, the company is introducing a new, ad-supported Basic plan, which, while more affordable, also implies that the company will collect data about its viewers and serve up ads based on the data it collected, thus earning not only money from subscriptions but also from advertisers. So, you can either pay more money for a new Netflix plan or choose a more affordable one and suffer all the annoying ads that go with it.
Know What You’re Paying For: Sure, users can always purchase a 4K Premium for the ultimate experience, but as a prominent Right to Repair activist explained, Netflix only streams 4K content to its closed-source application that comes installed in closed-source Smart TV sets. Otherwise, it’s 720p for $22.99—the cheaper Standard plan will still deliver 1080p for $11.99, regardless of where and how you watch Netflix. So, while it’s well within the company’s rights to introduce new Netflix plans, it’s important to note that the service delivered isn’t always what the service users pay for.
Well, this sucks, but it’s not surprising. I’m sure it’s also only a matter of time before they raise prices on the ad-tier, too. In my household, we’ve adjusted our mindset that commercials are inevitable and right now, the only streaming service that offers ad-free streaming is Apple TV+. We did take advantage of a Black Friday deal and have the ad-free Disney+, but the clock’s ticking on that one for us. I’m simply unwilling to pay more out-of-pocket, and well, I grew up watching commercials on broadcast television, so I can suck it up now. The commercials are great for pee breaks or checking my phone, lol.
I know we’re not alone in this mindset. In May, Netflix reported that its ad-supported tier now has 40 million active users globally, which is a big jump from when the ad-tier rolled out the previous year. At that point, there were only roughly five million subscribers. I don’t blame people. Streaming is no longer the new frontier, but the corporate world has caught up and figured out how to monetize to maximize their profits. It’s interesting that they made the commercial tier so much less. It’s almost as though Netflix is encouraging users to pay for their ad-based plan so they can collect even more data on their subscribers, which will inevitably net them even more money in the long term.
Photos are from some of Netflix’s most popular original shows, Wednesday, The Night Agent and Stranger Things. Credit: Tina Rowden/Netflix, Dan Power/Netflix
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