Netflix is Axing Its Cheapest Ad-Free Plan in the US

An anonymous reader shared this report from CNN: Netflix will start phasing out its Basic plan, its cheapest advertising-free plan, which costs $11.99 per month in the United States, the company said on Thursday. The company had previously stopped accepting new sign-ups for the Basic plan, instead pushing customers to Netflix's ad-supported plan, which costs $6.99 per month. However, existing users were allowed to keep the basic plan. In January, the company said it would retire its cheapest ad-free tier in Canada and the UK. On Thursday, the company said the US and France are next.

Basic users in the US who want an ad-free viewing experience on Netflix will now have two choices: Netflix's Standard plan, which costs $15.49 per month, and its Premium plan, which costs $22.99 per month...

The company reported a record-high 277.65 million subscribers on its streaming platform Thursday, far outpacing streaming competitors like Disney+, Peacock and Max... Overall, Netflix added 8.05 million new subscribers in its second quarter. Netflix's surge in new subscribers has been fueled in part by the company's effort to push users who share passwords to create their own accounts.
The article adds that Netflix's stock has climbed more than 35% in 2024.

Huge surprise

[OrangeTide]

Slashdot has only reported on this 3 times this month.
* https://news.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
* https://entertainment.slashdot... [slashdot.org]
* (plus this time)

We have another 2 weeks this month, so I am hoping for a record 5 dup streak.

Re:

[rossdee]

I am guessing that some of the 277.65 million subscribers are also dupes.

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

I come here for every Netflix pricing change! :rolleyes:

Nobody will embarrass Big Tech out of a price increase in a highly inflationary environment.

Notice how Prime keeps telling you that you saved $11 in shipping on a pack of seeds?

Watch for $199/yr before the next Prime Day.

It's inevitable when the Fed must create new money monthly to backend the nonstop T-bill sales to pay for unfunded government spending on a hockey-stick curve.

I learned this morning that the Feds spend an equal amount on stop-smoking c

Re:

[martin-boundary]

I canceled my prime (I never cared for its bundled services, just wanted free shipping, and they don't offer a free shipping only membership).

Turns out if you don't have prime, they still throw in free shipping in many cases. I'm never paying for prime again, well played Amazon, you scammed me for a few years, I'm not coming back.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Won't someone think of the actors?

[Powercntrl]

Finn Wolfhard's salary isn't going to pay itself!

Slashfot has already removed..

[luvirini]

.. the dupe free plan.

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[93 Escort Wagon]

.. the dupe free plan.

They axed that sometime around 1999.

Nothing Is Ad Free Except Piracy

[zenlessyank]

Call up Netflix or HBO and see how much it costs per month for service that has no advertising whatsoever.It doesn't exist. Advertising is as core to this country as nuclear warheads and racism.

Carry on with your Kool-aid consumption.

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[Njovich]

Piracy ad free? Ever visited a piracy site? Also the product placements are still in the pirated version

I have to wonder

[93 Escort Wagon]

I'd be (mildly) curious to know how many of these oft-reported "new" subscribers are people who used to keep a Netflix subscription 24/7/365, but (like me / my family) stopped that and now just sign up anew every year or so and binge for a month or two - like with other streaming services.

I'm sure this data is somewhere, but I'm not interested enough to do much work trying to find it,

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[Maxo-Texas]

Sam here. Was a subscriber for over a decade. Now I intend to subscribe for 1-2 months this fall to catch up. But then I'm done.

Fuck them.

[Eunomion]

I used to play the "sign up once in a while to binge" game, but their quality kept going down and down. They have no standards at all, ignored every one of my extremely minor suggestions (most of which would have cost them nothing), and have no clue why their platform used to be awesome. It's just some stupid algorithm dictating every detail and getting most of them wrong. Well, its ongoing subscribers get to find out what that algorithm makes of me never paying Netflix another dime ever again. Probably

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[MrL0G1C]

IMO netflix's problem is one of discoverability, their interface sucks, the best way to find something good on Netflix is to start googling sites and blogs about what's best on Netflix. There is good stuff on Netflix but good luck finding it amongst all of the endless uncreative dross.

Having said that, they discontinued the basic no-ads tier and I discontinued my Netflix subscription because I can't stand ads or steep price rises. Other services have cheaper no-ads tiers which I'll probably fire up for some

The joke is on you Netflix

[Robert Goatse]

I canceled 3 months ago and don’t miss it one iota. It got to the point where I was scrolling and scrolling just trying to find something halfway decent to watch. I don’t know how/why folks put up with ads on streaming services. Seriously, vote with your wallet if you don’t like it. I did and the world didn’t end.

Hey

[The Cat]

Sounds like a good time for some layoffs, huh?

Conclusion

[jgfenix]

They realized they can earn much more than 5$ with ads. I wonder how much.

Re:

[SeaFox]

Well, Hulu's base plan (with ads) is $7.99/mo, and the ad-free version of the same plan is $17.99/mo. So I infer adverting revenue from a subscriber is worth less than $10/mo.