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Netflix has alerted users in the UK and Canada that their Basic plan would be discontinued. As per reactions circulating on social media, subscribers of the Netflix Basic plan in the two countries have received a notice from the company requesting them to change their Basic plan to any of the three existing tiers.
In case this is not done, the Basic plan will apparently automatically be slotted into the Standard plan with ads from June 2024. The UK and Canada have become the first countries to take the hit, with users taking to social media to express their frustration at the company's decision. One X user wrote:
"Why is Netflix taking away the basic plan… but keeping the standard with ads? The $4 difference wasn’t enough to cover the ads... these ppl making these decisions don’t have sense at all"
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With such a strong reaction to the discontinuation, it remains to be seen how this will affect Netflix's profits in the next financial quarter.
Why is Netflix discontinuing its Basic plan?
The removal of its popular Basic plan by the popular OTT platform Netflix has not come as a surprise to many, but as an inevitable development that was bound to happen sooner rather than later.
Only last year, Netflix made the Basic plan unavailable to new users, presenting them with only three plans - Standard with ads, Standard without ads, and Premium. However, at the time, the Basic plan was still accessible to subscribers already using the plan. People could enjoy the features provided by the basic plan, provided they were already subscribed to it, but would be removed from access should they change their plan to a different tier.
In their last financial report shared in January 2024, the company revealed their plans to retire the Basic plan altogether. They wrote:
"In Q4‘23, like the quarter before, our ads membership increased by nearly 70% quarter over quarter, supported by improvements in our offering (e.g., downloads) and the phasing out of our Basic plan for new and rejoining members in our ads markets."
They further stated:
"The ads plan now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets and we’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there," it added.
Given the recent chatter online, it seems that Netflix has begun implementing its plan to discontinue the Basic plan as promised.
Netizens have not responded well to Netflix's decision
Basic plan subscribers are not happy about the company's decision to discontinue the plan as it was the most affordable ad-free option at $9.99. Now, in order to get an ad-free experience, users will have to subscribe to the Standard plan without ads, which costs $15.49 monthly.
In case users want an affordable option, they would have to downgrade to the Standard plan with ads which costs $6.99 per month. The most expensive tier is the Premium, which is priced at a steep cost of $22.99 monthly but comes with certain perks that the others do not have. One netizen accused Netflix of allegedly trying to make more money at the cost of its users:
"#Netflix $nflx is officially sunsetting the Basic plan, effectively trying to raise ARPU for all of those users." In a follow-up tweet, they added: "“Hundreds of millions of households” left to monetize."
Another user expressed their intention of leaving the streaming platform following the new development. They wrote:
"What you need to know. My basic plan is being discontinued, and as the new £4.99 inferior standard plan with adverts plan automatically begins 28 June, that my friend is where we will part ways. #Netflix #ripoff"
"Netflix getting rid of the standard plan I was on and forcing me to either have the one with ads or pay £11 a month has ruined my day", said another X user.
"netflix is seriously removing their standard plan and filling it with ads… girl bye", another netizen echoed a similar sentiment.
"Netflix what are you doing?????? Discounting the basic plan so now I have to decide on paying £3 a month for standard OR £3 less with adverts????? joke", one X user noted.
Some users called the company's decision a bad business move, as the removal of the $9.99 Basic plan would force subscribers to use the cheaper alternative - Standard plan with ads for $6.99.
With users already reacting negatively to the new development, the full extent of this decision will be clearer once it reportedly goes into effect from June 2024 onwards. After the UK and Canada, Netflix has yet to announce the countries that will next bear the brunt of retirement of the Basic plan.
It remains to be seen if Netflix will carry out their plan in other countries, or will retract their decision should their move turn out bad for their business.
