Netflix has rolled out its “Basic with Ads” streaming plan in 12 countries, which it aims to expand over time.
It’s a huge change for the tech giant, which pioneered the world of ad-free subscription streaming.
But when rising costs and new rivals’ offers prompted the public to resign, the company had to act.
When it announced the new service, Netflix said it was confident it now had a “price and plan for every fan”.
The new plan costs £ 4.99 per month in the UK and $ 6.99 in the US – a roughly 30% discount on the company’s cheapest ad-free option. So are people going to respond to that?
Kaitlyn, from south-west London, told the BBC she has no plans to change.
The 33-year-old said she was lucky to be able to afford the cost of her subscription and believed Netflix’s move was “a desperate attempt to get more people” that would hurt the brand.
“When they offer public services, it feels less like a premium service that people will happily continue to pay for,” she said, adding that cluttering shows and movies with ads makes of Netflix “just another YouTube”.
But streaming audiences are clearly getting restless. Netflix: Why Some Viewers Are Unsubscribing and Switching Off
Netflix’s subscriber base plummeted by more than a million in the first half of the year as the company pushed through its latest round of price hikes.
That’s a tiny fraction of its roughly 220 million global accounts, and the company recouped those losses in the three months to September.
However, a recent global survey by consultancy Simon Kucher found that more than a third of streaming customers would cancel a subscription in the next 12 months, particularly in markets like China, India and the United States. United States.
