Here's What You Can't Watch on Netflix's Ad-Supported Plan

Netflix’s ad-supported plan is finally here. But don’t expect every TV show or movie on the streaming service to be available to "Basic with ads" subscribers.

The company’s new subscription is only $6.99 per month, making it $3 cheaper than Netflix’s most affordable ad-free plan. But it locks away some content, “due to licensing restrictions,” which prevents Netflix from showing the programming alongside commercials. 

If you sign up for the plan, you can find out which content is blocked by checking if there’s a red “lock icon” in the corner of the title. 

The good news is that a lot of content is available on the platform. Initially, a few media outlets reported that shows like Breaking Bad and Grey's Anatomy, as well as Netflix Originals like Cobra Kai and The Crown had been locked out of the Basic with Ads plan. But when we checked this morning, they were all available, at least for US users. 

In fact, it seems all of Netflix’s own original productions are available on the ad-supported plan. Other shows, such as Seinfield, which Netflix paid a fortune to stream, can also be watched. 

The Netflix algorithm seems to favor displaying available TV shows and movies. We initially had to scroll all the way down to the “Top 10 Movies in the US" category before we hit any restricted content. They included several Universal Pictures and Lionsgate movies, such as the animated flick The Bad Guys, the Tom Cruise sci-movie Oblivion, and action thriller Man on a Ledge.

It wasn't until we searched for specific content that we noticed more locked-away content. Restricted TV shows include:

• Arrested Development

• The Good Place

• New Girl

• Peaky Blinders

• The Last Kingdom

• House of Cards

• Uncoupled

• Ash vs Evil Dead

• Great News

• The Sinner

• Knight Rider

• Stargate SG-1

• Friday Night Lights

• Queen of the South

• Marlon, The Magician

• Vampire Academy

Films we found blocked included Notting Hill, That’s My Boy, State of Play, Wanted, Snatch, Uncharted, The Hateful Eight, The Interview, Morbius, Paddington, Legend, The Age of Adaline, Contraband, Cleaner, Father Stu, The Duff, The Imitation Game, Victoria and Abdul, Margin Call, 21, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Darkest Hour, Rambo, 28 Days, Skyfall, Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, Barefoot, Dope, Seven Pounds, The Interpreter, Woman In Gold Mr. Right, Steve Jobs, The Giver, Savages, Rush, Geronimo: An American Legend, Hail, Caesar, 30 Minutes or Less, King of Thieves, Daddy Day Camp, We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, Blackhat, Jexi, Effie Gray A Knight’s Tale, Blood and Bone, The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, Road House, Resident Evil, The Spy Next Door, The Bounty Hunter, Pineapple Express, Piranha, Final Score, Blade of the 47 Ronin, Scary Movie, Soul Plane, Walking Tall, Robin Hood, and Dracula Untold, among others.

You'll no doubt find other content locked away if you keep searching. That said, there’s still plenty of content from third-party studios like Paramount, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and New Line Cinema available on the ad-supported plan. 

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There are also signs that Netflix is still ironing out the Basic with Ads plan. For example, if you do try to watch blocked content, the interface will simply hang and show a loading circle with no result, rather than offering the option to upgrade, for example.

In addition, we didn’t encounter any commercials while using the ad-tier plan when Netflix says “you can expect to see an average of about 4 minutes of ads per hour.” Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

So perhaps the streaming service is still preparing to roll out the commercials. In a press release, the company said users can expect to see ads from such brands including GM, L'Oreal, McDonald's, LVMH, Subway, Target, Heinz, and Carnival Cruises. Other downsides to the ad-supported plan include Netflix removing the ability to download shows for offline viewing, and video quality that's restricted to 720p.