Netflix unveils cheaper subscription with ads

Netflix has long been mulling the idea – and has now unveiled a new subscription plan that’s cheaper, but users will have to watch adverts.

Netflix announced earlier in the year that it would introduce adverts, but official details of the new tier were only revealed on Thursday.

The streaming giant says it has marked Nov. 1 to launch its new ad-supported streaming tier in Canada for $5.99 per month.

Basic with Adverts will show an average of four to five minutes of adverts per hour, with each advert 15 or 30 seconds in length. 

The price is significantly less than Netflix’s ad-free plans, which start at $9.99 and go as high as $20.99 a month.

The ads will play before and even during the content, which could infuriate viewers if they interrupt a particularly dramatic or suspenseful moment in the show.

However, not everything in the Netflix library will be available on the ad tier, and subscribers won’t have the option to download titles for remote viewing.

Netflix currently has three subscription tiers – Basic, Standard and Premium – none of which have adverts. 

Since its inception 15 years ago, Netflix has refused to include commercials in any of its offerings, but that has all changed this year. 

In April, Netflix announced it would abandon its resistance to ads after disclosing it had lost 200,000 subscribers during the first three months of the year.