Netflix News: Netflix's 'Basic with Ads' plan will now stream in 1080p resolution

Last year, Netflix launched the “Basic with Ads” subscription plan to attract more users to its OTT platform. However, one of the significant downsides was that it could stream only in 720p resolution. This is changing now, as Netflix officially announced that Basic with Ads would play video content at 1080p resolution.

In a first-quarter earnings report for 2023, Netflix has confirmed that users will automatically be upgraded from a video resolution of 720p to 1080p at no extra cost. In other words, the Basic with Ads plan will continue to cost $6.99 per month with resolutions up to 1080p.

Moreover, another significant change coming to Netflix’s ad-supported plan is the number of simultaneous streams. The said plan will now allow two devices to play video content simultaneously. Previously, users could stream only on one device with the ad-tier plan. Again, this will cost no extra money.

In its earning report, Netflix also said that Basic with Ads is doing better than its Standard subscription plan, which costs $15.49 monthly. One advantage of a Standard subscription is that it contains no advertisements. However, by bringing 1080p resolution to its ad-tier plan, Netflix will manage more people to switch from the Standard to the ad-supported plan.

The changes to the Basic with Ads subscription plan will be live starting Wednesday for users in Canada and Spain. It will gradually roll out to more users in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and the US. However, the streaming giant has not shared the timeline for when that will happen.

As for Netflix’s performance in the first quarter of 2023, it witnessed a 4% year-over-year growth translating to revenue of $8.1 billion. The company also forecasted revenue of $8.2 billion in the second quarter. Time will tell if it manages to meet what it expects.