One of the most anticipated announcements of the year, although at the time we expected it for 2023, it was the one with the ad-supported Netflix plan. You will surely remember that at the beginning of the year the company stated that it had no plans to launch an economic plan with advertising, a statement that was denied shortly afterwards, stating that they were studying it, although it would not arrive until 2023 or 2024. Perhaps it was a bluff, or perhaps the company was pressured, but the fact is that later it was suggested that the plan could debut this year. And just a little over a month ago, there was a rumor that the day chosen for its launch could be November 1.
In said rumour, it was suggested that Netflix would have opted, for a first release, for United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany, among other geographies. That is to say, an ambitious launch, and that indicated to us that the collaboration with Microsoft would have been quite effective. And when it comes to prices, at the end of August there was a rumor that the Netflix plan with advertising could cost between 7 and 10 dollars, a fairly wide range and, in my opinion, a bit worrying.
Well, the doubts are finally over, and the fact is that the company has already made public all the details about this plan, and we can affirm that, with some adjustments, many of these rumors turned out to be correct, although it is necessary to introduce some nuance from the international perspective. But hey, let’s start with the most important, so surely you’re waiting to know now: the Netflix plan with advertising will debut between November 1 and 10 in 12 countries, including Spain (in our country it will be on the 10th)and here its price will be 5.49 euros per month. Its price in the United States, just one cent below the expected range, $6.99 per month. And as for Mexico, the other Spanish-speaking country to which it will also arrive, it will do so 99 Mexican pesos per month.
The twelve countries in which the Netflix plan with advertising will debut are Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States. A very ambitious launch, as I mentioned before, and that seems like a response to Disney +. whose plan with advertising will debut this year in the United States, leaving its international expansion for 2023. As I said before, or Netflix bluffed by talking about such long deadlines (2023 or 2024) so that its rivals would take it more calmly, which would have been a very smart move, or he has felt more than ever the pressure of the competition, and has decided not to press the accelerator anymore, but to activate the nitrous oxide kit.
Limitations of the Netflix ad-supported plan
It is clear that if we talk about a cheaper plan than the existing ones, whose prices are not going to change with this launch, it will have some limitations compared to the previous ones. Some decided by the platform itself, and others imposed by factors beyond Netflix’s absolute control. Thus, to understand what the Netflix plan with advertising offers we must start from what is included in the basic planthat is, the one of 7.99 euros per month, but with the following additional limitations:
- As we already told you, some content (not Netflix’s own) will not be available for licensing restrictionsalthough Netflix claims to be working to fix it.
- It will not be possible to download content to watch it offline.
The maximum image quality will be shared between the Netflix ad-supported plan and the basic plan, HD (720p).
As regards advertising insertions, an average of between 4 and 5 minutes of advertising will be shown per hour (the individual duration of each ad will not exceed 30 seconds, although it is not clear whether these can be shown in blocks), both at start of the contents as during them and, obviously, the ads cannot be skipped with the navigation controls. Of course, a very important point in this regard, and quite positive in my opinion, is that Ads will not be shown on child profiles.
Still, of course, it is not possible to contract the Netflix plan with advertising, the question is whether the company will allow managing the registration in the subscription to it (or the change of modality, for users who wish to change to said plan) in advance, to avoid problems that may occur on launch day if there is a large turnout of users who wish to hire it.
What do you think of the Netflix plan with advertising? Talking about it with some colleagues, they find it expensive, and they do not consider that the savings of the plan with advertising compared to the basic one compensate for the limitations it poses (in addition to advertising, of course), while I think it is quite tight, especially in Spain, because Netflix, under the most advantageous conditions for our country, has not only not applied the euro-dollar parity, but has opted for an even cheaper offer. What do you think?
