Netflix to discontinue ‘basic’ plan in Canada
According to The Winnipeg Free Press, Netflix has announced that its basic plan will no longer be available to subscribers in Canada, making them involuntary first adopters of the streaming service’s new policies once again. This comes after the company’s decision in February to increase charges for account sharing between households in the country.
Anyone who already has a basic plan doesn’t have to worry about being terminated, but if they decide to switch to another option or close their account, they can’t go back to that tier. New users will no longer be able to choose the basic option, while current subscribers to other contracts will lose the option to switch “in the near future.” In Canada, Basic is $9.99 (CAD) per month, while Ads are $5.99 for Basic, $16.49 for Standard, and $20.99 for Premium.
After insisting it would never offer an ad-supported option, Netflix did just that in November 2022, launching a new tier in Canada, the US and ten other countries. Now that the streamer has decided to remove the basic option, it is pushing more of its customers towards an ad-filled viewing experience. The reasoning is simple: Ad-supported plans can be very beneficial to Netflix’s bottom line. In the first quarter of 2023, across the US, Netflix’s advertising tier brought in more money per user than its standard package. This dichotomy remained despite its $6.99 ad tier, while its standard plan costs $15.49.
There’s no sign that Netflix will be removing the basic tier in the US anytime soon, but if you want to avoid paying more or watching ads, now might be the time to pick it up. In the US, the basic plan is $9.99 and the premium is $19.99.
