Ad-supported Netflix plan to launch in November at $7 per month

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LOS ANGELES — Netflix Inc said Thursday it will introduce a streaming plan with advertising for around $7 a month starting Nov. 3, a move to attract new subscribers after the company lost customers in the first half. .

The $6.99 cost for the « Basic with Ads » plan is $3 less than Netflix’s cheapest tier without ads. The new option will be available in 12 countries, including the United States, Britain, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan and Korea, the company said in a statement.

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Subscribers to the plan will see about four to five minutes of advertising per hour, Netflix said. A « limited number » of movies and TV shows will not be available on the ad-supported plan due to licensing restrictions, « which we are working on », he added.

Netflix executives had been adamantly opposed to adding ads to their service for years. They announced a change of heart in April when the company stunned Wall Street by losing subscribers in the first quarter and predicting additional defections.

Other streaming services, including Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max, offer cheaper ad-supported options or will soon.

Netflix, known for hits such as « Stranger Things » and « Squid Game, » reported 220.7 million paid subscribers in June, down from nearly 1.2 million since the start of the year. The company planned to add 1 million customers in the third quarter. The latest numbers will be released when Netflix releases its results on Tuesday. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles Editing by Matthew Lewis)