Netflix will next month launch its cheaper, ad-supported tier called Basic with Ads, which includes four to five minutes of ads per hour, including pre-roll ads and commercials within its TV shows and movies and will not allow users to download TV shows or movies.

The new tier will be at half the price of Netflix Standard plan.

Netflix with Ads will cost US$6.99 per month in the United States, and will launch in 12 countries beginning in November, the company said today (October 13). The new plan will complement its existing ad-free plans: Basic (US$9.99 per month), Standard (US$15.49), and Premium (US$19.99). Other countries will have local pricing, all at effectively the same price point.

Jeremi Gorman, Netflix’s president of worldwide advertising, said Thursday that Netflix is nearly sold out of all of its inventory, with hundreds of advertisers signed on for the launch.

“The most important thing for us is that we want to offer consumers choice and for them to figure out what is the best offering for them,” Greg Peters, chief operating officer and chief product officer at Netflix.

“We believe that, with this launch, we will be able to provide a plan and a price for every Netflix fan,” Netflix COO Greg Peters told reporters during a virtual press conference.

“The most important thing for us is that we want to offer consumers choice and for them to figure out what is the best offering for them, and that could mean that some of our existing members shift off [to ad-free plans],” he continued.

Peters said the new model will be in a position to benefit the company financially.

“From a revenue perspective, we are relatively neutral or agnostic on it,” Peters said.

“We have generally set out so that the revenue, subscription, plus ad monetisation is neutral to positive to subscription only with no ads.”

Netflix’s ad tier will debut November 1 in Canada and Mexico, with most other countries going live November 3 (including the US), except for Spain, which launch November 10. The US, Canada, UK, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Korea, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy are the launch countries, with other countries to follow.