After the last price increase, the next step now follows: Netflix wants to abolish the basic subscription once and for all. Customers will have to dig deeper into their pockets in the future.
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Last week, Netflix announced that after price increases for new customers, existing customers would also face price increases. You can find more information on this topic here.
Since last autumn, new customers have no longer been able to take out the basic subscription. With the basic subscription you could previously watch Netflix without advertising at a cheaper price. Netflix now wants to abolish this function completely. Until the price increase on April 13th, the basic subscription cost €7.99, after the increases it cost €9.99. The cheapest ad-free plan included a single simultaneous stream in 720p resolution as well as the ability to download to a smartphone or tablet. Previously, this type of subscription had already been discontinued in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
No basic subscription for existing and new customers
Until last week, existing customers were spared from the price increases, but Netflix is currently informing customers via email about the upcoming changes. At the same time, Netflix is also implementing its announcement that it wants to abolish the basic subscription in the near future. This was announced in January when the quarterly figures were announced. At that time, it was said that the intention was to completely eliminate the basic subscription without advertising, even for existing customers in markets where the standard subscription with advertising is available. The original plan was to initially implement this change in the United Kingdom and Canada during the second quarter of 2024.
In the future, existing customers will be forced to decide whether or not to upgrade to a different tariff. But if you decide against the change, Netflix will automatically cancel your subscription. In the USA, Netflix seems to want to implement the new measures from July 1st, as a user on Reddit confirmed with a screenshot from an email from Netflix. From then on, customers can choose between the standard subscription with advertising, the standard subscription or the premium subscription. If you decide on a new tariff, the old basic subscription without advertising will already be grayed out. It can then no longer be completed again. It is not yet known when the changes will come to Germany.
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