Today, those plans cost $17.99, $27.99 and $33.99/month, following $3 to $6 price increases last year.

Netflix won’t go the path of Disney+, Amazon’s Prime Video and Sky’s Neon, which have all introduced ads to their cheapest plans in New Zealand, with subscribers asked to pay more for a higher-tier plan if they want to escape them.

“Pricing is TBC but it will be a new, lower-price plan,” a Netflix Australia-New Zealand spokesman said.

In Australia (and other territories), the Basic plan was initially kept on when the cheaper Basic with Ads was introduced, but eventually phased out as budget-conscious consumers overwhelmingly favoured the ad plan, which Netflix says now accounts for four million “viewers” across the Tasman.

Globally, it says 60% of new first-quarter sign-ups opted for the ad plan.

How it will work

“You can expect to see a few short ads per hour. We aim to place ads during natural plot breaks for a more seamless experience. You’ll see ads before and during select TV shows and movies. Some newly released movies only have ads before they begin,” Netflix says.

As with other online services, the ads won’t be skippable.

Ads won’t display if a viewer is logged on to a profile on Netflix’s “Kids” settings.

The ‘gotchas’

Netflix Standard with Ads won’t work on older TVs, Netflix says.

Another qualifier: most, but not all Netflix content is available on its ad-supported plans.

“While the vast majority of TV shows and movies are available on an ad-supported plan, a small number are not due to licensing restrictions,” the streamer says in an article on its help site.

“These titles will appear with a lock icon when you search or browse Netflix.”

Netflix doesn’t have a list of series and movies locked to those on an ad-free plan, but US media it includes are marquee titles Peaky Blinders, House of Cards and The Walking Dead. Missing movies include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Equalizer 3.

Across-the-board price increases

All of the global streamers have hiked their pricing ahead of inflation over the past few years, along with Sky TV’s Neon and Sky Sport Now.

Sky cites rising content and other costs. The global players have moved from their early land-grab focus to turning a profit.

Disney+ costs $9.99 per month with ads, with an ad-free Premium Plan costing $21.99 (soon to rise to $25.99).

Prime with ads costs $10.99 per month. There’s an additional $2.99 charge to go ad-free.

Punters also face more damage to their wallet from many big content makers going “direct-to-consumer” with their own streaming apps.

Disney content that used to be part of a Sky subscription can now only be found through Disney+, while HBO content that used to be a mainstay of Neon’s content will from June only be available via HBO Max (local pricing has yet to be announced, but it’s expected to be in line with its Australian pricing, which runs between A$11.99 and A$21.99 a month).

Meanwhile, sports has fragmented with the rise of global apps for the likes of NBA basketball and Formula One, and even local rights for some sports are being fragmented. Kiwis who follow a top-tier English football team this season were obliged to subscribe to Sky NZ (or Sky Sport Now), DAZN and beIN to follow its games in all competitions.

More competition in a tight ad market

TVNZ, which makes nearly all of its income from ads, reported revenue for the six months to December 31 was $134m – down 12% on the same period last year, with TVNZ+ growing fast, but not fast enough to offset the decline from its broadcast TV business, where ads sell for far more.

Meanwhile, Sky said ad revenue in the first half of its FY26 financial year was “softer than expected”.

With its acquisition of Three, its advertising revenue more than doubled to $64m. But with Three stripped out, it actually fell $300,000.

Sky’s digital ad revenue increased from $4m in the second half of FY2025 to $13m in the first half of FY2026, but the increase was only $1m if normalised for the acquisition.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.