If you’re looking to save a few bucks by signing up for Netflix’s cheaper ad-supported plan, be aware: You won’t get the full catalog available to regular customers.
Netflix already announced that a certain amount of its lineup — 5%-10% of titles, depending on country — would be unavailable on the ad tier because of licensing restrictions (which the company says it is working through). But Netflix didn’t specify which ones would not be in the mix.
Now that Netflix has bowed the plan with ads, which costs $6.99 per month in the U.S., there’s some idea of what is not included, although the company still does not provide a complete list. TV shows and movies that are not on the Netflix Basic With Ads plan are shown in the guide with a lock icon.
Among the shows not available currently with Netflix Basic With Ads are: “Arrested Development,” “Breaking Bad,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” “The Crown,” “Cobra Kai” and “House of Cards,” “Peaky Blinders,” “New Girl,” “The Magicians,” “The Last Kingdom,” “The Sinner,” “Good Girls,” “The Good Place” and “Friday Night Lights.”
Movies that are unavailable in Netflix’s ad plan include “Skyfall,” “28 Days,” “The Imitation Game” and “The Bad Guys.”
A “limited number of movies and TV shows won’t be available due to licensing restrictions, and we’re going to be working on reducing that over time,” Netflix chief operating officer Greg Peters told reporters during a briefing last month.
Another limitation with the Netflix Basic With Ads plan is that subscribers do not have the ability to download titles for offline viewing. Users on the tier are limited to a single stream at a time (as with the Netflix Basic) tier. According to Netflix, the ad-supported service will run 4-5 minutes of ads per hour.
Meanwhile, at launch, the Netflix ad-supported package is not supported on Apple TV devices. A company rep support for Apple’s tvOS is coming “soon.”
Netflix Basic With Ads launched in the U.S. on Nov. 3. The cheaper plan will be available in 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. It first rolled out in Canada and Mexico on Nov. 1, followed by the other countries with the exception of Spain, where it will debut Nov. 10.
From Variety US