Netflix’s new ad-supported plan, called “Basic with Ads,” has finally arrived on Apple TV. Previously, the plan was not supported by the Netflix tvOS app, leaving Apple TV users unable to watch content on the platform. The new plan offers subscribers access to a subset of Netflix’s content catalog, and costs $6.99 per month, which is $3 cheaper than the ad-free “Basic” plan.
The ad-supported model was adopted by Netflix after years of resisting it, as the company experienced slowing growth and quarterly subscriber declines. The ads tier is expected to help Netflix gain more subscribers during times of economic uncertainty and also serve as the basis for the company’s upcoming crackdown on password sharing. Netflix estimates that as many as 100 million people are using someone else’s account, and these users will be directed to the ads plan when the crackdown happens.
The addition of the ad-supported plan to Apple TV comes as other major streaming services have also introduced cheaper ad-supported tiers in a bid to attract subscribers. However, Apple has yet to offer such a plan for its Apple TV+ platform, although rumors suggest that one may be in the works.
