Netflix confirms adverts are now coming to streaming service

Netflix has confirmed the date when adverts are coming to its platform, and how much it'll set you back.

It's been a tough old year for one of the biggest names in streaming services as its subscriber growth came to a screeching halt and even reversed a few months ago.

Over one period of time when it'd been expecting to pick up around 2.5 million subscribers, the streaming giant instead ended up losing 200,000.

The company admitted its 'revenue growth has slowed considerably', and in response to its problems the talk about bringing in a subscription tier packed with adverts started to ramp up.

It makes sense, Netflix gets the money from advertisers who want to tap into its millions of subscribers, while the viewers are still forking over money every month to watch Netflix.

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings admitted back in April that plans for a subscription tier with adverts were being worked on, and that it could be launched as early as the end of 2022.

And it turns out he was right.

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Right now Netflix's cheapest available package will set you back £6.99 and that gets you the ability to watch the streaming service on one screen at a time while being able to download it to one phone or tablet.

For £10.99 you can double up on that capacity and watch films and TV in high definition, but for that cost it's on the pricier end of the streaming service scale.

However, from 3 November onwards UK viewers will be able to knock their subscription price down to £4.99 with Netflix's 'basic with ads' package.

One big drawback of this cheapest level of subscription is that some films and shows won't be available to watch thanks to licensing restrictions.

Netflix said a 'limited' number of shows and films would be off the table for 'basic with ads' customers, though insisted it was 'working on' hammering out an agreement which would make them watchable again.

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There are an estimated 13.8 million subscribers to Netflix in the UK and streaming bosses aren't worried if many of them hop from the most popular £10.99 option down to £4.99, as the money they get from ads will balance it out.

They also reckon this cheaper tier will help bring in more subscribers around the world, with the initial launch of the adverts package going live in 12 countries next month.

Netflix isn't the only streaming giant who has decided to offer customers the chance of a cheaper subscription with adverts.

Disney Plus is also working on putting ads into its shows by the end of the year, though it won't be getting its out before Netflix has made its launch.