Bell Media has delivered on its previously announced plan to bring ads to its Crave streaming service with not one, but two ad-supported subscription plans.
Now available, the Basic with Ads plan costs $9.99 per month, while the Standard with Ads plan costs $14.99. The existing Crave subscription has been re-named Premium Ad-Free and remains at its $19.99 price, though discounts are available for longer subscription terms or through certain TV providers.
The Basic plan includes a single concurrent stream in 720p video quality. The Standard plan allows up to four concurrent streams with up to 4K video quality. Both plans allow for unlimited registered devices. The ability to live stream and download content remains exclusive to the premium, ad-free tier.
Crave will carry both 15- and 30-second video units, to run before and during TV episodes and movies. Bell Media told MiC there would be approximately five minutes of ads per hour of content. A “limited number” of titles will not be available for advertising, due to licensing restrictions.
By comparison, Netflix’s ad supported tier costs $5.99 per month, with 1080p streams on up to two devices concurrently, though the company recently placed limits on the number of devices that can be registered to a single account. Ad loads on Netflix are roughly four minutes per hour of content.
At launch, brands that have already signed on to run ads on Crave include Bell’s own Virgin Plus mobile carrier, along with Adidas, Canadian Tire, Food Basics, Google, Hyundai, Maybelline, McDonald’s, Ontario Racing and RBC.
Stewart Johnston, SVP of Bell Media sales and sports, told MiC in June that bringing ads to Crave meets “growing demand from advertisers to leverage the power of Crave,” which will give them access to the streaming space with a premium environment. Karine Moses, SVP of content and news for Bell Media and vice-chair of Quebec for Bell, added that the new tier will offer more choice and flexibility to customers, “while aligning Crave with current industry standards.” Streaming services based in the U.S., like Netflix and Disney+, have been adding less expensive, ad-supported subscriptions in an effort to attract and retain customers, especially in an economic environment where they are looking more closely at discretionary spending.