Netflix to end $11.99 basic plan without ads

Netflix customers will have a choice to make: either deal with ads and pay a lower price or avoid ads and pay more each month.

The streaming service announced on Thursday that its’ basic subscription without ads which currently costs $11.99 will be phased out, USA Today reported.

The plan was not offered to new customers since last July but established customers were grandfathered if they didn’t cancel or change plans until now.

Customers can either go to a lower tier that has advertising paying $6.99 a month, Forbes reported. If viewers still don’t want ads they will have to choose the Standard Plan which costs $15.49 a month for up to two devices at a time for two account members or the Premium Plan which is $22.99 a month for up to four simultaneous devices for three account members.

Subscribers who have to change will be getting an email alerting them.

The company already phased out the basic plan in Canada and the UK earlier this year, CNN reported.

The basic subscription with no ads was started in November 2022, USA Today reported.

Netflix said it has a record 277.65 million subscribers, adding 8.05 million new subscribers in the second quarter, attributed to hit shows such as “Bridgerton,” “Baby Reindeer” and “The Roast of Tom Brady,” USA Today reported. It also started streaming live sporting events, according to CNN. Netflix, however, expects the growth in subscribers to slow in the third quarter.

© 2024 Cox Media Group