For years, Netflix was an ad-free paradise.
No matter how much you streamed, commercials were never around the corner.
Well, that ad-plan is nearly here, and you should think about subscribing to it.
Whats new with Netflixs Basic with Ads plan?
Netflix officially announcedthe details of its new ad tier in a press release Thursday.
Thats a bump from Netflixs current Basic subscription, which caps video resolution at 480p.
One big drawback to the plan is the inability to download content.
Netflixs ads might not be so bad
Now for the elephant in the room: the ads.
Netflix claims ads will take up four-to-five minutes per hour of content.
Theyll appear both before and during shows and movies, which could pose a potential pacing issue.
It isnt clear how these ad breaks will be strategized, if at all.
You might find them running at clear transitions in the show, or half-way through an emotional monologue.
Well only know once Netflix rolls out the new plan.
Sure, the latter is necessary if, like me, yourequireyour content to stream in 4K.
But thats a lot of money to spend if you dont hold video resolution in such high esteem.
In fact,Netflix doesnt even support 4K content on many of these devices.
Its a minor difference, especially on these smaller devices.
The next hurdle is the number of streaming devices at once.
Premium offers four concurrent streams at once, while Standard offers two.
Basic and Basic with Ads, however, only lets one unit stream Netflix at a time.
If you share your account with other people, thats another dealbreaker.
As it stands, ads seem to be the way of the future for streaming services.
Hulu has had an ad option for years, and, now, so do most platforms.
Even Apple is in talks toadd commercials to TV+ by next year.
These plans are here to stay, and I think they have a place.
If you need an extra screen, you could spend another $5.50 to go to Standard.
And, if you miss 4K, the $20 Premium plan is always there for you.
