Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) said it will no longer be offering new US customers its cheapest ad-free subscription plan.
New or re-joining subscribers will not be eligible for the US$9.99 a month plan, although current customers can continue to use it for as long as they do not cancel or change.
Customers who wish to watch favourites such as 'Stranger Things' and 'Bridgerton' without adverts must now fork out US$15.49 a month.
The demise of the US$9.99 basic tier, which allowed customers to watch films and series on one device at a time without ads, came in November when the NASDAQ-listed company launched a US$6.99 ad-supported service.
More than five million global monthly users joined Netflix in the subsequent six months, with more than a quarter of the sign-ups choosing an ad-supported plan, according to the website USA Today, citing a May trading update, with ad-plan memberships doubling since the first quarter.
Netflix also confirmed in yesterday’s second-quarter report, where it just missed revenue expectations, that it will begin phasing out ad-free plans in the UK and the US after successfully doing so in Canada.
"We believe our entry prices in these countries – $6.99 in the US, £4.99 in the UK and $5.99 in Canada – provide great value to consumers given the breadth and quality of our catalog,” it said.