Netflix Launches 'Basic With Ads' Plan, But It Doesn't Currently Work on Apple TV

Netflix launched its new ad-supported plan this week, but it doesn't yet work on Apple TV devices, including the new third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K launching today.

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Costing $6.99 per month in the United States, the new "Basic With Ads" plan is $3 cheaper than the standard Basic plan, but ‌Apple TV‌ owners looking to take advantage of the more affordable tier will have to wait.

"Basic with ads plan support on tvOS is not available at launch but coming soon," Netflix told Variety. A Netflix support page, spotted by 9to5Mac, notes that you can only watch Netflix on ‌Apple TV‌ if you are subscribed to the Basic, Standard, or Premium plans.

Netflix didn't explain why the Basic With Ads plan doesn't work on ‌Apple TV‌, despite it being available on Amazon Fire TV devices, Android, Chromecast with Google TV, game consoles, iOS devices, and numerous smart TVs. It could have something to do with the fact that Netflix accelerated the timeline for the plan's launch from early 2023 to early November in order to get out ahead of the Disney+ ad tier coming next month, but we don't know for sure.

Netflix's ad-supported plan first rolled out in Canada and Mexico on November 1, and launched in the U.S. on November 3. The more affordable tier is also live in the U.K., Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Spain.

Aside from including ads, the Basic With Ads plan limits video streaming resolution to a maximum of 720p, and some movies and TV shows are not available because of licensing restrictions (they're marked with a red padlock in the Netflix interface). Unlike with the plans without ads, the ad-based tier does not support downloading movies and TV shows for offline viewing either.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Tag: Netflix
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

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Top Rated Comments

return2sendai Avatar
34 months ago
Here’s an ad on MacRumors. Tasteful. And with excellent spelling. Knot!



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Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pakaku Avatar
34 months ago
Maybe it's for the best that it doesn't work
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
themuseboy Avatar
34 months ago
I am old enough to remember when cable TV first came out and I asked the question "Why would anyone pay to watch TV" and the response from the cable guy was "Because there are no commercials" I said, "Wow that's a great idea I hate all the commercials, where do I sign!" Well, within about 5 years commercials started to show up on cable TV. The excuse was just the cable fee was not bringing in enough revenue. But of course even with commercials they kept raising the monthly cable fees too. And here we are today...
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sciomar Avatar
34 months ago
Streaming services have now come full circle to what they were boasting about replacing, sad days. Looking forward to whatever gets created to begin the cycle anew.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jaminist Avatar
34 months ago
Like You Tube they will probably start with minimum ads and increase it massively. I've noticed that I am getting more double ads on YT that's aren't skippable putting me off watching quite a few vids. I wanted to watch a video the other day that was 45 seconds long. I had to endure 30 seconds of adverts beforehand.

Netflix will show 5 mins of ads every hour to start with. I guess you have to weigh up whether the $3 saved a month is worth the time wasted seeing rubbish ads.

I get we live in an advertising based online existence now but the constant bombardment is overtaking the content you come to see alot of the time. Facebook is the same also, you see two or 3 posts from friends then it's a sponsored post. This appears to have massively increased over the years to the point where it impacts the enjoyment of the platform.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bonte Avatar
34 months ago
No thank you, I will gladly pay not to see ads.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)