The Morning After: Netflix with ads launches on November 3rd

Netflix’s ad-supported tier finally has a release date. The new Basic with Ads plan will be available November 3rd from 12 PM ET for $7 per month in the US. It launches at the start of November in 11 other countries: the UK, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Canada (November 1st), Mexico (November 1st) and Spain (November 10th).

The ads will run for an average of four to five minutes per hour, and you’ll be limited to 720p/HD resolution. That’s not the only limitation: Licensing will also prevent you from watching certain movies and TV shows on the ad plan.

While we don’t know what kinds of ads you’ll get, we do know they’ll initially be 15- to 30-second spots and will play both before and during shows. There’ll be “broad” targeting for those ads based on criteria like your country and the content genres you watch.

That list of caveats might stop existing Netflix subscribers from downgrading (the Basic plan starts at $10), but it could convince folks with other video subscriptions – or a lapsed Netflix sub – to start paying again.

– Mat Smith

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