TV Answer Man, if Netflix has ads in their shows, I’m going to cancel my subscription. I left cable because the shows had too many ads and now Netflix is going to do it?! Is there anything the average person can do to stop this? — Jennifer, Miami. 

Jennifer, Netflix announced last week that on November 3 it would introduce a new monthly plan for $6.99 that would include four to five minutes of ads (15 to 30 seconds each in length) every hour.

The ads-included plan would also not have certain shows due to licensing restrictions, and the video would be 720p HD, a lower quality than the 1080p found in Netflix’s Standard and Premium offerings. (The Premium plan also includes select shows in 4K.)

The ads will play before and during the show, similar to what Hulu now does with its ads-included basic plan. which costs $7.99 a month. (Disney+ also has a $7.99 a month plan with ads.)

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“In short, Basic with Ads is everything people love about Netflix, at a lower price, with a few ads in-between. Starting in November, signing up will be easy,” Netflix says at its web site.

The announcement has caused some consternation among Netflix subscribers, some of whom have sent e-mails to yours truly complaining about having to watch ads with their subscription. However, let me assure you that the only Netflix plan that will have ads will be the new ‘Basic With Ads’ option.

Netflix will still have a $9.99 a month Basic plan without ads, a Standard edition without ads for $15.49 a month and the Premium edition without ads for $19.99 a month. There are no changes to the three plans without ads except Netflix is upgrading the video quality of the Basic without Ads plans from standard-definition to 720p HD. You can learn more about Netflix’s various plans here. 

But why is Netflix even including ads in a basic plan?

The company’s subscription growth has slowed in the past year due largely to increased competition from rivals such as Disney+ and HBO Max. Netflix needs to generate additional revenue to fund more original programming to compete more successfully. Ergo, ads.

Jennifer, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman