Netflix has launched its new advertising-supported tier saying it will have “a plan for every fan”.
Basic with Adverts will go live on 3 November at 4pm GMT. An average of four to five minutes will be seen per hour in pre-roll and mid-breaks.
It will be available in an initial 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the United States.
The new tier joins the existing Basic, Standard and Premium plans. The £4.99 fee represents a £2 discount on the Basic Tier. In the United States the cost is $6.99 and in France €5.99.
At launch, a number of TV and film titles will be absent from the advertising tier due to licensing restrictions, which the streamer says it’s “working on”.
“The switch from linear is happening at an ever-increasing speed, with streaming now surpassing broadcast and cable in the US,” said Greg Peters, Netflix Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer. “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.”
Netflix has worked with Microsoft to ensure advertisers reach the right audience and the adverts are seen as relevant by consumers. Targetting will be available by country and genre and advertisers will also be able to prevent their adverts from appearing on content that might be inconsistent with their brand, such as sex, nudity or graphic violence.
After initially launching without ads, the leading streaming services are now all looking at ad-supported tiers with versions of Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+ all in the works.
The proposals were first mooted after a troubled first quarter when Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers, the first time it had entered negative territory.
In another change, video quality of up to 720p/HD will be available on both Basic and Basic with Adverts. Previously just standard definition has been available to Basic customers.
