Foxtel has announced that Binge Basic subscribers will start seeing advertisements from March 30.
The announcement comes after streaming giant Netflix kicked off the trend in late 2022 with a cheaper, bespoke ad-supported plan. Binge Basic subscribers won’t have the same luxury of saving a few bucks for the sake of ads, however. Instead, every Basic subscriber will be upgraded from SD to HD (1080p) even though Foxtel still refuses to offer 4K streaming on Binge.
It’s kind of like upgrading from economy to premium economy except the airline doesn’t offer business class.
The Binge Basic plan currently costs $10 per month and offers one simultaneous stream in Standard Definition.
How will ads work on Binge?
Ads will automatically roll out to accounts on Binge Basic on March 30; Binge Standard and Binge Premium subscribers won’t be impacted. Foxtel claims that ads will be limited to one-per-hour “at launch” and only served to Binge Basic subscribers watching TV series. Given episodes of premium drama typically run between 40 and 60 minutes, Binge ads shouldn't cause too many interruptions.
If you’d prefer to avoid ads altogether on Binge, you’ll have two options after the 30th of March: cancel your Binge subscription or upgrade to Standard or Premium.
Binge Standard offers two simultaneous HD streams and costs $16 per month after a price hike in 2022. Binge Premium offers four simultaneous HD streams and costs $18 per month. Binge is the first Australian streaming service to follow Netflix’s lead by introducing ads. Here’s hoping more Australian services don’t join Netflix in its global crackdown on password sharing too.
This story was originally published on our sister website Reviews.org AU
Brodie Fogg
Managing Editor - Streaming
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