Netflix with Ads Launching November 1 in Canada, Says Report

Netflix has bumped up its plans to launch an ad-supported tier to November 1, instead of December, reports Variety.

According to industry sources, the cheaper Netflix tier will debut in Canada, the U.S., UK, France and Germany, with the faster launch aimed at beating the upcoming Disney+ Basic tier’s unveiling in December (yes, that’s ad-supported too).

“We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower-priced, ad-supported tier and no decisions have been made,” said Netflix to Variety.

Netflix previously announced Microsoft would be powering its ad-supported tier, allowing ads to be shown. The streamer is apparently open to negotiating ad rates and is willing to see what the market will pay, with one source noting a minimum $10 million ad buy from advertisers.

The pricing of Netflix with ads is said to come in the $7 to $9 USD per month range and the company apparently expects 500,000 paid subscribers by the end of the year. At current exchange rates that would be about $9 CAD to under $12 CAD per month in Canada.

Currently, Netflix starts at $9.99 CAD/month for the basic plan, with the standard and premium plans at $16.49 CAD and $20.99 CAD per month respectively.

Ads are said to load at 4 minutes for every hour of a series. Movies will see pre-roll ads and frequency caps of one per house and three per day, per viewer have apparently been set, lower than usual standards in the industry.

The Netflix with ads tier is said not to include offline downloads, while the new offering will come in the company’s 25th year of operations.

Click here to see what’s coming to Netflix Canada in September 2022.