Furious Netflix fans threaten to boycott streaming giant over major change
NETFLIX fans have been left furious as they threaten to boycott the streamer over a major change.
Bosses have angered loyal viewers of the streaming giant over the shake-up – that takes place very soon.
Netflix previously confirmed that customers on their basic package would soon be moving to a new tier.
The overhaul will see viewers automatically placed on the new lowest tier – and with adverts.
Unfortunately Netflix fans won’t have a choice as the company has completely discontinued its basic package.
One viewer has taken to Reddit to tip off other users that the change is happening on July 13.
Posting to the site, they shared an image of a message from Netflix on their TV.
It read: “Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13. Choose a new plan to keep watching.
“Your basic plan has been discontinued, but you can easily switch to a new one.”
Reacting to the changes, one Netflix fan said: “Dumb move because I’ll just cancel any service that starts overcharging or forces ads.”
“A second blasted: “People don’t like ads. It’s why I stopped watching YouTube. It’s why I cancelled Prime Video. It’s why I will soon cancel Netflix. Find a better way to sell products.”
While a third snapped: “Just cancelled my Netflix subscription for the first time since I subscribed in 2012, I got locked into a £4.99 basic plan which never rose, until this week when they’ve decided to add adverts to my tier.”
Why is Netflix Basic gone?
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
Netflix Basic’s future has been hanging in the balance for a while now.
And it might not be the only change – bosses previously suggested they are exploring other tier options with ads in mind.
The push towards ads is hardly surprising, everyone is at it now, including Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
Netflix’s advertising chief revealed in January that the ad-based tier now has more than 23million global active users per month.
Of course, users who have enjoyed having no interruptions during their shows all these years aren’t too happy about the shift, saying streamers are essentially morphing into traditional satellite or cable TV services.
With prices pretty much increasing annually, companies have tried to offset the impact by telling users they can keep (or lower) their current subscription cost with ads – but if you want an ad-free experience you’ll have to pay more for the privilege.
So expect to see more ad-backed subscription models in future.