Netflix Phasing Out Basic Ads-Free Plan

Netflix has started booting subscribers off its cheapest ad-free subscription tier, "starting with the UK and Canada, with more countries inevitably to follow," reports MacRumors. From the report: The streaming giant has reportedly begun notifying users via on-screen messages about the last day they can access the service unless they upgrade. One Reddit user shared a notification they had received from the Netflix app, saying: "Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching." Customers are being prompted to instead choose the cheaper Standard with ads, or the more expensive Standard or Premium 4K plans.

The Basic plan, which costs $11.99 per month in the United States, has not been available to new subscribers since last year. In its early 2024 earnings call, Netflix announced its intention to retire its Basic plan in some countries where the ads plan has been introduced, starting with Canada and the UK in the second quarter, and then "taking it from there." Netflix said in May that its ad-supported streaming tier has 40 million global monthly active users, up 35 million from a year ago.

Dup

[Kunedog]

https://entertainment.slashdot... [slashdot.org]

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[ArmoredDragon]

The question on everybody's mind is: When will slashdot phase out dupes?

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[NoWayNoShapeNoForm]

The question on everybody's mind is: When will slashdot phase out dupes?

+1 for Very Timely Comment ... if I had mod points

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[mmell]

Y'know, back in the days of T.V. (yes, that's a thing. Look it up.), we called those reruns. If you didn't see it the first time it was posted, it's new to you. X^D

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[NoWayNoShapeNoForm]

Y'know, back in the days of T.V. (yes, that's a thing. Look it up.), we called those reruns. If you didn't see it the first time it was posted, it's new to you. X^D

ROTFLMAO

Reruns are not new to me. The saying in our house if we missed a show (not a sports event or "special event") during the regular season was, "Just wait for it to come back in the summer reruns."

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[nicubunu]

The question on everybody's mind is: When will slashdot phase out dupes?

Never, because Slashdot deeply cares about their audience and don't want to alienate its users by removing important features. /s

Netflix?

[christoban]

I haven't had a Netflix plan for a year. I've not once since then had a reason to resume it.

Ever since "the algorithm" cancelled Haters Back Off," it's been a pointless service. Amazon is the only streaming service I use now.

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[leonbev]

Yeah, I gave up on Netflix about 2 1/2 years ago. Between the COVID shutdown and the writers strike, there hasn't been enough fresh content to make it worth while.

If I wanted to see dumb game shows and reality shows, I could just watch network TV.

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[NoWayNoShapeNoForm]

Bryan Lunduke is covering it. Surprise, surprise, it's the gender freaks.

You can't say that on /. lest you desire to be called a Fascist, Racist, or whatever the fashionable "knock word" is today.

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[nicubunu]

I had to Google to learn what NixOS is.

Pirates

[p51d007]

I see piracy making a comeback.

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[Luckyo]

Did it ever go away?

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[AnOnyxMouseCoward]

Completely away, no, but it was less common / less required for a few years.. A lot of people are okay to pay a small amount to watch most of the shows available, which was Netflix in the early days. That $10-15 gave a lot of convenience (no need to torrent, easy interface to select shows, etc.). But corporations being what they are, now there's half a dozen streaming services and if you want them all you're back to cable prices, and you have to swap between them which is inconvenient. Meanwhile, piracy has

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[mmell]

Mostly right - with a couple luddites like myself thrown in (I hooked an antenna up to my monitor and rediscovered television; I also stopped watching what we used to call TV during every waking moment of my life). I feel vaguely like Peter Griffin when he destroyed the town's cable television.

That's fine.

[Petersko]

They aren't a common carrier or the sole provider of a basic necessity. They are an entertainment company with competitors, free to do as they like so long as they aren't breaking contract law. People will vote with their feet, or they won't.

s/feet/wallets

[mmell]

FTFY.

Netflix is Phasing Out Netflix

[BrendaEM]

In the end, Netflix will have only one video--in a thousand categories.

Stop using Canada as a trial balloon

[gekko2725]

I can not speak for the rest of Canada but I am getting a little tired of big companies using us as a test case for unpopular changes. There is a piece of dialog from an old television series which goes: Q "Were they mad?" A "Well, as mad as Canadians get." Well, it happened. Mad. Here is the 'value' Netflix offers Canadians: - Far less content than Americans get at the same price - Spamming recommended titles with international content which does not appeal to most people outside of its country of or