Netflix Rolls Out Lower-Priced Ad-Supported Subscription Plan

Rejoice, streamers! Netflix has just announced its rollout of a lower-cost subscription plan today (November 3). The streaming giant announced on its official Instagram their "Basic with ads" plan, a lower-priced ad-supported plan starting at $6.99 a month.

Per Netflix, the difference in the ad-based plan is: video quality up to 720p/HD (now for both the Basic with Ads and Basic plans); there will bee an average of 4 to 5 minutes of ads per hour. It's also worth noting that there are a limited number of movies and TV shows that won't be available due to licensing restrictions (they say that they're working on that). Also, if you have the ad-based plan, you won't be able to download titles.

As we've previously reported, Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings revealed plans for this in the company’s quarterly earnings call back in April. Netflix COO Greg Peters said that advertising “is an exciting opportunity for us.”

“Those who have followed Netflix know that I have been against the complexity of advertising, and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription,” Hastings said. “But as much as I am a fan of that, I am a bigger fan of consumer choice. And allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price, and are advertising-tolerant, get what they want, makes a lot of sense.”

Hastings said at the time that competitors like Hulu, Disney and HBO embracing lower-priced subscriptions with ads played a role in changing the company’s mind. “We don’t have any doubt that it works,” Hastings said, adding that it will be a plan similar to Hulu’s. Hastings also said that when Netflix launches its ad-backed tier, it won’t track data, which some of its streaming competitors do. “In terms of the profit potential, definitely the online ad market has advanced, and now you don’t have to incorporate all the information about people that you used to,” Hastings said. “We can stay out of that, and really be focused on our members, creating that great experience.”

Netflix’s decision to finally embrace advertising comes after their long resistance to the plan since its beginning, but with the streamer’s subscriber growth slowing and now declining, the pressure to bring new users has become too great to ignore with their rollout of ad-based plans just six months after their initial announcement.

Netflix is celebrating its 25th anniversary today (August 29). Originally starting out in 1997 as a DVD rental service via mail, offering members unlimited DVD rentals without due dates, late fees, or monthly rental limits.

Ten years later in 2007, Netflix adapted and joined streaming, marking the start of binge-watching. Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, Arrested Development and Hemlock Grove are the first slate of original series programming in 2013 and since then, the streaming giant has put out some of the best television to date. Check out the company's video, which tells their story.

See our 22 favorite Netflix original series, ranked, below:

Meet the most beloved sitcom horse of the '90s ... 20 years later. Set in an L.A. where humans and anthropomorphic animal-people coexist, BoJack Horseman is about one man (well, horse-man) who peaked too early and must figure out what to do next.

Angsty Syd navigates high school awkwardness, family drama and an unrequited crush on her best friend while trying to rein in her budding superpowers.

After enduring the wildest night of their lives — over and over — Nadia and Alan stumble into another bewildering existential adventure.

A twisted criminal's gruesome videos drive a group of amateur online sleuths to launch a risky manhunt that pulls them into a dark underworld.

The series centers on teens based on Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg's upbringing in suburban New York, with Kroll voicing his fictional younger self. Big Mouth explores puberty while embracing a frankness about the human body and sex.

Insecure Otis has all the answers when it comes to sex advice, thanks to his therapist mom. So rebel Maeve proposes a school sex-therapy clinic.

A budding teen psychopath and a rebel hungry for adventure embark on a star-crossed road trip in this darkly comic series based on a graphic novel.

Half witch. Half mortal. On her 16th birthday, Sabrina has to make a choice between the witch world of her family and the human world of her friends. With her aunties, her cat Salem, and her boyfriend Harvey Kinkle, Sabrina will face horrors and new adventures in the mysterious town of Greendale.

A dangerously charming, intensely obsessive young man goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of those he is transfixed by.

Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster-hunter for hire, journeys toward his destiny in a turbulent world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.

Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.

One moment links 8 minds in disparate parts of the world, putting 8 strangers in each other's lives, each other's secrets, and in terrible danger. Though the first season was phenomenal, the second season fell short and the series was cancelled.

As Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred -- born a Saxon but raised by Vikings -- seeks to claim his ancestral birthright.

A notorious gang in 1919 Birmingham, England, is led by the fierce Tommy Shelby, a crime boss set on moving up in the world no matter the cost.

Reunited by their father's death, estranged siblings with extraordinary powers uncover shocking family secrets -- and a looming threat to humanity.

In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom while grappling with addiction.

Stranger Things is an American sci-fi television series created by the Duffer Brothers first released in 2016. When Will Byers vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.

Terrifying creatures, wicked surprises and dark comedy converge in this NSFW anthology of animated stories presented by Tim Miller and David Fincher.

Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits — with deadly high stakes.

From Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, Orange is the New Black is a Netflix original series based on Piper Kerman's memoir about her year in a women's prison.

A financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss.

This sci-fi anthology series explores a twisted, high-tech near-future where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.