Amid price hikes, ads, & crackdowns, Netflix finally cuts subscribers a break

Streaming service subscribers haven't heard much good news lately. Save for content being shared across streaming services more freely, it seems any time Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, et cetera announce a change for subscribers, it's something negative. Lately streaming service news has been all about price hikes, the introduction of ads, getting tougher on password sharing, and even unreliable performance.

Today, there's a sliver of good-leaning news to share, as Netflix is tossing a couple of bones toward its ad-tier subscribers in the form of an ad-free episode for every three episodes watched, as well as downloadable content.

Announced via press release today, a year after Netflix launched its ad-supported tier for $6.99 per month, Netflix said that starting in Q1 2024, "after watching three consecutive episodes, [ad-tier] members will be presented with a fourth episode ad-free."