Netflix needs to fix its cheaper ad-supporter tier, and fast
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Netflix has finally launched its new ad-supported subscription, “Basic with Ads,” and initial reports suggest it’s far from ready for public consumption.
Netflix first launched the idea of an ad-supported plan earlier this year, hoping to target lower-income users after an ongoing period of subscriber decline. The step-down plan is considerably cheaper than the already existing basic plan and costs $6.99 / £4.99 / AU$6.99 per month, allowing you to stream in HD resolution (720p only) with a clear focus on smartphone – and tablet use rather than the latter 4K TVs.
However, the ads are already proving to be controversial — not just because part of Netflix’s appeal over the years has been the lack of advertisers on the platform.
As reported by The edge (opens in new tab), Netflix’s implementation of ads is wildly inconsistent. Some shows force you to watch ads at the beginning, end, and halfway through each episode – some shows don’t show any ads at all. Longer movies also vary wildly in the amount of ads offered, making for a confusing potluck where viewers simply don’t know how many ads they’ll be subjected to.
We know from a Netflix blog post (opens in new tab) last month that “At launch, ads will be 15 or 30 seconds long, playing before and during shows and movies.” Another help page (opens in new tab) says, “You can expect about 4 minutes of ads per hour on average (this may vary based on the title you’re viewing).”
But there’s little point in having ads applied inconsistently. One of the few saving graces of commercial breaks in traditional television is knowing when they will land.
An hour of cable TV viewing will have ads before a show/movie starts, about 20 minutes later, and at the end before the next hour’s programming begins. It provides reliable breaks where – if you don’t want to give in to the onslaught of commercials – you can grab a snack, take a walk around the house, talk to roommates, scroll on your phone or whatever. Variable ad spots are just shocking and also sound like they should be more complicated on the back end than a standardized approach.
We’ve reached out to Netflix for more clarification, but in the meantime, it seems that the mess of ads at this new, low-cost tier — in addition to many major shows being paid, due to “license restrictions” — may make subscribers think twice about it. registering. About 5-10% of the content on Netflix is not available at this level, including some of the best Netflix shows – such as The Crown, Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders, New Girl and Arrested Development are all unavailable.
Don’t even think about trying this layer on the Apple TV 4K as it’s not yet supported on tvOS devices (via Variety (opens in new tab)).
The other basic plan, with no ads, costs $9.99 / £6.99 per month, if that seems less of a hassle and still within your budget.