Netflix wants to retire basic ad-free plan in some countries, shareholder letter says

Netflix users in some countries will soon have to pay more to watch TV and movies without advertisements. 

In a shareholder letter from Tuesday, the streaming service said it’s looking to “retire” its cheapest ad-free plan in “some of our ads countries.” Netflix will implement the change in Canada and the U.K. in the second quarter of the year before “taking it from there,” the letter said. 

The company did not specify when (or whether) the change would impact U.S. subscribers.

“Our aim is to make ads a more substantial revenue stream that contributes to sustained, healthy revenue growth in 2025 and beyond,” the shareholder letter read.

There could be more price hikes down the line.

“As we invest in and improve Netflix, we’ll occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra to reflect those improvements, which in turn helps drive the positive flywheel of additional investment to further improve and grow our service,” according to the shareholder letter.

Last year, Netflix stopped allowing new and returning subscribers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada to select its basic plan. American subscribers who were grandfathered into Netflix’s basic plan saw a price hike last year after Netflix raised that plan’s price from $9.99 to $11.99 a month. The company also hiked the price of its costliest plan in the U.S. to $22.99.

The video streaming service also started a crackdown on password sharing last year. 

The current lowest-tier plan available for Netflix newcomers is the $6.99-per-month ad-supported plan. Some TV shows and movies are not available under the plan. The cheapest ad-free plan for newcomers is the $15.49-per-month standard plan.

According to Netflix, the ads plan currently accounts for 40% of new sign-ups in ad markets. The company said it added 13.1 million subscribers last quarter, boosting its total to around 260 million globally.