Starting today, Canadian Netflix subscribers can now opt for a much cheaper subscription plan, but will have to watch ads.
The $5.99/month plan, which is the cheapest thus far of the Netflix pricing options, will have an average of 4 to 5 minutes of ads per hour.
At launch, ads will be 15 or 30 seconds in length and will play before and during shows and films. According to Netflix, there will be a limited number of movies and TV shows that won’t be available due to licensing restrictions and there will be no ability to download titles.
The ad-supported version of Netflix will only be available on one device, and with no high-definition content. That’s different from ad-free versions that start at $9.99 a month and go all the way up to $21.99 for subscriptions with all the bells and whistles.
“In short, Basic with Ads is everything people love about Netflix, at a lower price, with a few ads in-between. We’re confident that with Netflix starting at $5.99 a month, we now have a price and plan for every fan.
“While it’s still very early days, we’re pleased with the interest from both consumers and the advertising community — and couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. As we learn from and improve the experience, we expect to launch in more countries over time,” a release from Netflix Canada stated.
Canada will join 11 other countries that have the basic ad plan. Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US all have the plan as well.
In addition to raising prices for its ad-free subscriptions, Netflix will require subscribers to pay an extra fee if they want to share their password, starting in early 2023.
