To increase revenue and attract more users, Netflix will launch a subscription service supported by ads in a dozen countries in November.
The subscription, known as “basic with ads,” will cost $6.99 in the US, which is $3 less than the cost of basic there without ads.
The action was taken as the dominant streaming service battles subscriber churn after suffering the largest-ever quarterly decline in subscribers when it lost nearly a million during the three months that ended on June 30.
It will launch in Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. This ad-supported subscription is a first for Netflix. For the business that invented the concept of ad-free subscription-based streaming, it is a significant change.
The subscription plan’s video quality will be capped at 720p and will feature an average of four to five minutes of ads per hour in addition to having third-party advertisements for the first time on its platform.
Due to licencing limitations that the company is “working on,” a “limited” number of shows will not be offered in this particular tier, according to Netflix. Additionally, users won’t be able to download any titles.
Although the company has stated that it expects to roll out the service in more countries over time, India is not one of the 12 countries where Netflix is initially launching the ad-supported plan.
Even though it’s still very early, we’re happy with the interest from consumers and the advertising community and couldn’t be more enthusiastic about what’s to come. We anticipate expanding into more nations over time as we gain knowledge from and refine the experience, the company said in a statement.
In contrast to its services in other regions, Netflix has some of the most affordable subscription plans.
Given the price-sensitive nature of the Indian market, it is unclear how the launch of the ad-version plan will affect the country’s current subscription prices.
The dollar was approximately Rs. 82 on October 14, reflecting the rupee’s recent depreciation against the greenback. With that exchange rate, the $6.99 ad-supported Netflix plan in the US is equivalent to about Rs 575.
This costs significantly more than the’standard’ plan for the streaming service in India, which is Rs 499 per month. There are no ads included in this plan, which supports simultaneous high-definition content streaming on two devices.