Netflix is no longer offering its cheapest ad-free streaming plan in the US and UK, aiming to push price-conscious consumers to sign up for its ad-supported package.
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The Basic plan, which provided a single stream for $9.99 a month in the US and £6.99 a month in the UK, is no longer available “for new members or those who join again” in their respective countries. According to Netflix, existing members of the Basic plan can "stay on this plan until they switch plans or cancel their account."
Elimination of the BASIC plan to push the one with advertising
THEelimination of the Netflix Basic plan was designed to increase the number of customers of the Standard With Advertising plan, which first launched last November. In May, Netflix announced that it had recorded more than 5 million members for its ad-supported plans, with 25% of new subscribers choosing this option.
Our starting prices of $6.99 in the US and £4.99 in the UK [for the Standard With Advertising plan] are lower than the competition and offer excellent value to consumers, considering the wide range and quality of our catalog
Netflix spokesperson at Variety
Last month, the company dropped the Basic plan in Canada as well. The decision to discontinue the Basic plan in the US and UK comes as Netflix prepares to present its second-quarter 2023 financial results on Wednesday after the market closes. Analysts are expecting a significant increase thanks to Netflix's new paid sharing program, an attempt by the company to monetize unauthorized password sharing, which rolled out widely during the second quarter in the United States and several other countries.
The ad-supported plan generates more revenue for Netflix
In reporting its Q2023 15.49 financial results, Netflix reported that in the US, the ad-supported plan was already generating average revenue per customer (known as ARPU) higher than the Standard plan at $8.50 per month. This implies that the company was generating at least $XNUMX per month per subscriber through the Standard With Advertising plan.
Netflix's Standard Ads-Free plan offers viewing on two devices at the same time (like the ad-free Standard plan), but doesn't allow for offline viewing or adding an extra member. The plan provides on average 4 minutes of non-skipable ads for every hour of viewing.
According to the company, “the vast majority of TV series and movies” are available on ad-supported plans, but “a small number are not due to licensing restrictions“. Currently, Netflix ad-supported plans are available in the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Spain.
Will the Netflix BASIC plan also be eliminated in Italy?
At the moment there are none official indications about Italy on when and if the same choice will be applied but the tendency, as we have already seen in the past for family unit restrictions, is to involve Europe only in a second phase.
But we can catch a signal poco comforting from the current subscription plan selection screen, in which the basic plan (only this one) is deliberately hidden and it is necessary to click on “See all plans” for it to appear.
