Netflix is fully retiring its cheapest ad-free plan in Canada
Netflix is finally pulling the plug on its most affordable ad-free plan in Canada.
The streaming giant quietly stopped offering its basic $9.99 ad-free plan in June 2023. In a few months, Canadian subscribers grandfathered into the program will no longer be able to maintain it.
In a letter to shareholders published Tuesday, Netflix discussed its monetization options and the business opportunity scaling its ads represents in the UK and Canada. It shared a healthy revenue forecast for the first quarter of 2024.
Netflix credited phasing out the basic ad-free plan for the growth of its ad-based memberships, which increased by nearly 70% (quarter over quarter) during Q3 and Q4 2023.
Netflix
“The ads plan now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets, and we’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there,” Netflix stated.
This means the basic ad-free plan will also likely be pulled in other locations, eventually.
The multibillion-dollar company also touched on the effects of its crackdown on password sharing in Canada, which began in February last year and left thousands of subscribers frustrated.
Tons of Netflix subscribers took to social media to air their feelings about the new rules, which limited the use of a single account to a single household, requiring extra payment for additional profiles logging on from other locations.
But things seemed to have cooled down by April. Netflix reported that more Canadians were subscribing after the crackdown.
“We believe we’ve successfully addressed account sharing, ensuring that when people enjoy Netflix, they pay for the service, too,” the streaming service said on Tuesday. “Features like Transfer Profile and Extra Member were much requested, and many millions of our members are now taking advantage of them.”
If you don’t mind the ads, you can still watch stuff on Netflix for less than $9.99.
Currently, there are three plans available for new and rejoining subscribers in Canada: Premium (4K + HDR) for $20.99 monthly; Standard (1080p) for $16.49 monthly; and Standard with ads (1080p) for $5.99.
Netflix
Daily Hive asked Netflix when exactly during Q2 can Canadian subscribers expect to part ways with their $9.99 basic ad-free plan. Netflix didn’t specify beyond Q2 of 2024.
What are your thoughts about these changes?
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