Netflix Announces Launch Date, Pricing For Lower Cost Ad-Supported Tier

Netflix’s ad-supported tier officially has a launch date, and it’s coming soon. The streaming service announced (per Variety that the tier, which will cost $6.99 ($3 less than the basic plan) and include the ability to stream on one device at a time, will launch on November 3rd ion the US at 9 AM PT.

The plan will also be rolled out in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, and the U.K., with Canada and Mexico getting it on November 1st. With the launch of the new tier, Netflix will bump up the video quality on both the basic and ad tier to 720p HD; the Basic Plan was previously only available in SD.

It is important to note that a “limited number of movies and TV” will not be available on the ad-supported tier due to licensing issues. Netflix chief operating officer Greg Peters said that the plan is to reduce the amount of content that is not available over time, with about 5% to 10% of titles unavailable on Netflix Basic With Ads at launch. The ad plan will also not have the ability to download titles for offline viewing.

Under the plan, ads will run 15 or 30 seconds long and play before and during content, with an average of four to five minutes per hour. New release films will only include before the film stars in order to “preserve the cinematic experience.”