Netflix will introduce Basic With Ads early next month
San Francisco: In an effort to introduce an ad-supported tier for its users, popular streaming platform Netflix has announced that it will launch the “Basic with Ads” steam plan on November 3 in the US for $6.99.
The plan will also be rolled out in several other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom.
“In short, ‘Ad-Free’ is everything people love about Netflix, at a lower price, with few interstitials.” Starting in November, signing up will be easy – visit Netflix.com and sign up with your email, date of birth and gender to get started,” Greg Peters, chief operating officer and chief product officer, said in a statement.
“The plan also represents an exciting opportunity for advertisers – the chance to reach a diverse audience, including younger viewers who increasingly don’t watch linear TV, in a premium environment with a seamless high-definition ad experience,” Peters added.
At launch, the ads will be 15 or 30 seconds long, playing before and during shows and movies.
“To help advertisers reach the right audience and ensure our ads are more relevant to consumers, we will offer extensive country and genre targeting options,” the company said.
“Advertisers will also be able to prevent their ads from appearing on content that may be inconsistent with their brand,” he adds.
The plan will sit alongside the Basic, Standard and Premium plans and will be limited to 720p content. Users can sign up through Netflix.com and register with their email, date of birth and gender.
Meanwhile, a recent report said the platform, with nearly 221 million subscribers worldwide, is collaborating with British TV ratings agency BARB to reveal how many people are watching its streaming shows and movies.
Beginning the second week of November, BARB will publicly report monthly reach and viewership share for broadcaster groups and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD)/ad-based video-on-demand (AVOD) services that account for more than 0.5 percent of the total identified viewing.