Netflix made several substantial changes to its membership tiers in 2023, but it looks like the streaming giant isn’t done yet.
A report by The Independent notes that some Netflix users in Canada and the UK have reportedly received messages urging them to upgrade from the Basic tier to Netflix’s Premium, Standard or Standard plans with ads.
The Netflix message reportedly tells users that their “last day to watch Netflix is July 31” and urges them to “choose a new plan to continue watching.”
Users in other countries who are also subscribed to the basic plan should expect to see similar changes soon.
By The IndependentNetflix reportedly announced during an earnings call earlier this year that they planned to phase out the plan “starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and moving forward from there.”
Netflix announced in 2023 that it would be removing the ad-free basic subscription in the US and UK for new subscribers, though it noted that users who were already subscribed at that level would continue to be ad-free. That no longer appears to be the case.
The controversial move came after the streamer launched its ad-supported Standard plan in 2022. The ad-supported Standard plan, which is available in the US for $6.99, allows streaming on two devices but does not include the ability to download content for offline viewing or add other members.
According to Netflix’s site, a “small number” of its shows and movies are not available to viewers on the ad-supported plan “due to licensing restrictions.” It also includes a cheeky note about the number of ads shown during streaming: “Less than you might think.”
Viewers also have the option to upgrade to the Standard plan for $15.49 per month, or the Premium plan for $22.99 per month.
Netflix is not the first streaming service to recently adopt an advertising-based model.
Amazon Prime Video It also made the shocking change in early 2024 when it converted all Prime Video accounts to an ad-supported plan.
It’s unclear how this decision will affect Netflix’s numbers, but the streaming service took a huge hit after cracking down on password sharing in 2023. The company reportedly saw an average of 73,000 new signups in the days following the policy change.
