Netflix to launch cheaper 'basic' subscription with adverts in November

Tomorrow, we hear is Courtenay Valenti’s last day as Warner Bros. President of Production and Development after we told you first that she was exiting the Burbank, CA lot after a 33-year run.

Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper have a history together. They first teamed up on 2013’s “Out Of The Furnace,” then reunited on 2017’s “Hostiles.” Now they collaborate again on “The Pale Blue Eye,” Cooper’s follow-up to last year’s “Antlers,” which hits Netflix next January.

Last decade, Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper teamed up for two films, 2013’s “Out Of The Furnace” and 2017’s criminally underseen “Hostiles.” Now, they join forces again on “The Pale Blue Eye,” Cooper’s take on Louis Bayard‘s 2006 novel about a double murder at the West Point military academy in 1830. Vanity Fair’s first look at the film offers a glimpse at the period mystery thriller, which sees Bale’s detective come out of retirement to solve the murders thanks to a new protegé, Henry Melling‘s young Edgar Allan Poe.

In a third-quarter earnings interview dominated by talk of advertising, top Netflix execs described it as a “sprint” to capture “a whole new audience” and a bid to woo advertisers affected by “the collapse of linear television.”

Netflix has been in the video game space for close to a year and is doubling down.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After two straight quarters of subscriber losses, Netflix returned to growth in the third quarter of 2022 — and told investors it’s expecting a strong Q4 to finish the year, even though it doesn’t expect big gains right away from the launch of its cheaper, ad-supported plans. The streaming giant reported 2.41 million net new paid subscribers in Q3, including a gain of 100,000 in the U.S./Canada region, to stand at 223.1 million worldwide as of the end of September. That handily topped Netflix’s previous forecast of a 1 million pickup for the period. For Q4, Netflix expects to gain 4.5 million new streaming customers, compared with 8.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. Netflix Basic With Ads is slated to launch in the U.S. on Nov. 3 and priced at $6.99 per month — three dollars less than the regular Basic plan. Similar ad tiers are also coming next month to 11 other countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the U.K.

Netflix stock dipped 1% to close the week at $230 a share as debate continued on Wall Street about the financial impact of the company’s embrace of advertising.

Netflix has announced that a cheaper monthly subscription package will be launched in the UK next month. Priced at £4.99, the new option will include adverts and is set to be rolled out at 4pm on Thursday November 3.

Viewers have watched Netflix continually raise its subscription fee in recent years, but now the streamer is set to introduce a new version that will cost significantly less — for those who don’t mind sitting through some commercials, that is.

Netflix’s ad-supported tier will be missing certain series and movie titles at launch, the company conceded today in announcing details about the rollout.

Netflix is adding options to their subscription model.

Netflix is adding options to their subscription model.

Netflix is undercutting Disney+ on price by a dollar a month as it prepares for a landmark expansion into advertising-supported streaming.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After years of Netflix execs spurning the idea of serving up commercials to viewers, the streaming giant is flipping the switch on its first cheaper, ad-supported plan next month. Netflix Basic With Ads will launch in the U.S. on Nov. 3 at 9 a.m. PT, priced at $6.99 per month, the company announced. The cheaper plan will be available in 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. It will first roll out in Canada and Mexico on Nov. 1. Basic With Ads will be $2 cheaper than Netflix’s Basic plan ($9.99/month in the U.S. currently), which provides the ability to stream on one device at a time. Previously, the Basic plan has not supported HD, but with the launch of the ad tier, Netflix will provide video quality of up to 720p HD for both Basic With Ads and the plan with no ads.

What’s not to love about Roald Dahl‘s “Matilda“? The 1998 children’s novel follows a precocious young girl who discovers she has superpowers and uses them to take charge of her destiny against the likes of her rotten headmaster, Miss Trunchbull. Movie fans of a certain generation will remember the 1996 film, but the book also became an award-winning musical in 2010.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Beach (Dahmer: Monster), Joshua Colley (Senior Year) and Lindsey Gort (All Rise) have joined the cast of Dead Boy Detectives, HBO Max’s upcoming drama series based on the DC Comics characters created by Neil Gaiman, in key recurring roles. The series hails from The Flight Attendant’s Steve Yockey, Doom Patrol’s Jeremy Carver, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. Beach, Colley and Gort join series stars George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri and Kassius Nelson.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order to a new comedy series from Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay with Sebastian Maniscalco set for the lead role, Variety has learned. The single-camera show is titled “How to Be a Bookie.” HBO Max has given it an eight-episode order. Per the official logline, “A veteran bookie (Maniscalco) struggles to survive the impending legalization of sports gambling, increasingly unstable clients, family, co-workers, and a lifestyle that bounces him around every corner of Los Angeles, high and low.” Lorre and Bakay serve as co-writers and executive producers on the show. Maniscalco will executive produce in addition to starring, with Judi Marmel also executive producing. Warner Bros. Television is the studio. Chuck Lorre productions is currently under an overall deal at WBTV. The show marks Lorre’s first series at HBO Max.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix EMEA TV boss Larry Tanz has claimed the streamer is defying subscriber teething problems by continuing to grow investment in the region, standing by commitments and helping crews and talent as he prepares to welcome a wealth of prospective hits including Dark creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s 1899.