Netflix to bring 'Basic With Ads' early next month

SAN FRANCISCO: In a bid to introduce an ad-supported tier for its users, popular streaming platform Netflix has announced that it will roll out the "Basic With Ads" steaming plan on November 3 in the US for $6.99.

The plan will also be rolled out in several other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, and the UK,

"In short, 'Basic with Ads' is everything people love about Netflix, at a lower price, with a few ads in-between. Starting in November, signing up will be easy -- visit Netflix.com, and register with your email, date of birth, and gender to get started," Greg Peters, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, said in a statement.

"The plan also represents an exciting opportunity for advertisers -- the chance to reach a diverse audience, including younger viewers who increasingly don't watch linear TV, in a premium environment with a seamless, high-resolution ads experience," Peters added.

At launch, ads will be 15 or 30 seconds in length, which will play before and during shows and films.

"To help advertisers reach the right audience and ensure our ads are more relevant for consumers, we will offer broad targeting capabilities by country and genre," the company said.

"Advertisers will also be able to prevent their ads from appearing on content that might be inconsistent with their brand," it added.

The plan will sit alongside the Basic, Standard, and Premium plans and will be limited to 720p content. Users can sign up via Netflix.com and register with their email, date of birth, and gender.

Meanwhile, a recent report said that the platform, with nearly 221 million subscribers worldwide, collaborated with the UK TV rating agency BARB to reveal how many people are watching its streaming shows and movies.

From the second week of November, BARB will publicly report the monthly reach and share of viewing for broadcaster groups, and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD)/advertising-based video-on-demand (AVOD) services which account for more than 0.5 per cent of total identified viewing.