In a major announcement, Netflix has confirmed that its most affordable Basic streaming tier will no longer be available. The company has started removing the Basic tier for customers in the UK and US, following a trial in Canada. This tier was removed for Australian viewers last October.
The company confirmed this will be the end of the plan altogether, and it will end in June.
An email was sent to applicable customers notifying them of another change to the company’s subscription options. The new select countries have yet to be revealed.
In July last year, Netflix began removing the Basic tier for new and existing subscribers in the UK and US, following a trial in Canada.
Since the removal of the Basic tier, the current subscriptions available for Australian users include the Standard with ads (A$6.99 a month), Standard (A$16.99 a month), and Premium (A$22.99 a month).
At this time, new customers in select regions are starting to be forced to select the Standard with ads option.
Starting June 4, this tier will be the only option for those who want to pay the least amount when it comes to streaming.
Netflix also tried to see the positive side of this change, revealing a 25 per cent reduction in price, an improvement in streaming quality, and the ability to stream two devices at once.
These price reductions are expected to happen in countries where an advertising tier doesn’t exist. Australia currently has an advertising tier, so it’s not expected to be part of the list, however, over 30 countries will receive the reduction.
This price reduction contradicts the numerous price hikes Netflix has had in recent years. In Australia, the premium plan has gone from A$14.99 at launch to the current price of A$22.99.
For those who want to bypass all ads, they’ll now have to pay for the Standard tier, and if they want to take advantage of 4K quality, the top premium tier is where it’s at.
Recently, Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, which has resulted in an additional 9.3 million new viewers.
