Netflix confirms it is increasing subscription prices, again, after adding 8.8 million...

[midian182]

What just happened? Just because you know something bad is coming doesn't make its confirmation any less disappointing. Reports that Netflix has been planning another price hike have now been confirmed after the company announced it was raising the cost of some plans in the US, UK, and France.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal wrote that Netflix was planning to raise its prices once again. The streamer implemented its last hike in January 2022, though it did stop offering the Basic $9.99 ad-free plan to new and returning customers in July, meaning the cheapest commercial-free tier for newbies went up to $15.49 per month.

Starting today, Netflix is raising the price of both the Basic and Premium plans in the US, UK, and France. Those members still on the Basic plan will start paying $11.99, marking a $2 increase, while the Premium tier jumps from $19.99 to $22.99. UK subs will now pay £7.99 and £17.99 for Basic and Premium, respectively, while French prices are 10.99€ and 19.99€.

The prices of Netflix's $6.99 ad-supported plan and the $15.49 Standard tier remain unchanged.

The latest increase means that Netflix's Premium tier has increased 91.7% since 2015, when it was just $11.99.

"As we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more," Netflix wrote in its letter to shareholders. "Our starting price is extremely competitive with other streamers and at $6.99 per month in the US, for example, it's much less than the average price of a single movie ticket."

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters would not comment on when the company might raise the prices of the ad-supported and Standard plans. He said the timing will fit into the company's "philosophy" of "occasionally" raising prices to continue delivering better content.

Would you pay more to watch One Piece?

Some had predicted that Netflix's password-sharing crackdown would result in a mass exodus of subscribers, but the streamer says the move has been "exceeding" expectations. It added 8.76 million new subs over the past few months, pushing its worldwide total to 247.15 million.

"The cancel reaction continues to be low, exceeding our expectations, and borrower households converting into full paying memberships are demonstrating healthy retention. As a result, we're revenue positive in every region when accounting for additional spinoff accounts and extra members, churn and changes to our plan mix," Netflix stated.

Netflix's ad-supported plan has also been a huge success, with membership increasing almost 70% from the previous quarter. It's also the tier that 30% of new signups opt for in the 12 countries that offer it.

Netflix reported that the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes had resulted in about $1 billion in "lower-than-planned cash content spend" during the last quarter, but the company still generated revenue of $8.5 billion, up 8% year-on-year.

It'll certainly be interesting to see how many people leave Netflix permanently following this latest price rise. It has plenty of enticing content coming up, but perhaps more people will start canceling their subscriptions and rejoining temporarily when new seasons of shows like Stranger Things and One Piece arrive.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100547-netflix-confirms-increasing-subscription-prices-again-after-adding.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I mean, why not? The sheep line up for slaughter, may as well fleece them as much as possible. They took away password sharing and raised the price, and 8.8 million MORE people signed up.

Squeeze 'em for all they're worth.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

If the standard plan stays the same as per the story, I'll hold my subscription.....for now. I just don't feel their service really warrants about $16.50 (after taxes) a month. As long as someone in my family is using it I guess it's an okay use of money. But in all honesty, I'd rather put that $200 a year towards something else - like one of the monthly payments for my daughter's braces. I feel that's a better use of my money instead of giving it to Netflix.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

If the standard plan stays the same as per the story, I'll hold my subscription.....for now. I just don't feel their service really warrants about $16.50 (after taxes) a month. As long as someone in my family is using it I guess it's an okay use of money. But in all honesty, I'd rather put that $200 a year towards something else - like one of the monthly payments for my daughter's braces. I feel that's a better use of my money instead of giving it to Netflix.

It would be a much better use, especially if that payment has an interest rate attached.

Netflix is one of those things where you buy it for a month, binge everything you want to see, then wait a year. IDK where people get the time to use it for a significant period 12 months a year. That just so much time wasted.

 

[Dimitriid]

Surely with a 20% price increase we can expect 20% more new shows to be introduced right....Guys?....Ok can we at least expect 20% less premature and quite often, baffling show cancellations...Guys...

Seriously though, this is among the most short sighted decisions I've seen Netflix do and that says something: They were constantly crying about declining subscription rates and they finally get some traction with the new ad supported tier and what do they do? "Let's just not continue with a steady grow and let those new ad tier subscribers and returning ones settle in and get used to our service for at least a couple years, this is cash-in-hand this means we can now afford to burn any good will and extorting another price increase"

Sure you've got more ad tier subs now but is it really worth trading over most of your longest standing customers with another price increase? Do you really want to send the message of "Do NOT actually pay us more just downgrade to the ad tier, we'd actually want to make less money per customer now"? This is the same kind of behavior I'd expect from a gambling addict: Never actually do something worthwhile with your winnings just immediately put them down again on another bet to make extra sure you lose.

 

[RudyBob]

TV is far down the list of my priorities. I like to spend about an hour a night on the living room floor with my Springer watching something which has yet to be on Netflix. I sympathize with those that feel they are being cheated but it isn't Netflix that is cheating you.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Imagine spending money on something you could get for free.

 

[yukka]

Kids use it for Pokémon and Gabbys dollhouse. So stuck with it for now. It’s as expensive as a no Hd cable/satellite option now but without any live content.

 

[letsgoiowa]

Glad I canceled months ago when they announced the password sharing crackdown.

 

[pencea]

They brag about having 247.15 million subscribers and yet have the audacity to increase the price again...

 

[dnous]

It really is no longer worth it. It has a lot of content but the vast majority of the content is terrible. And I could deal with it, if the pricing was right. But it's so extremely overpriced that it isn't worth it anymore.

 

[toooooot]

I wonder how long it will take for Netflix to reach TV pricing.
For me, the problem with Netflix is that they do not actually offer a huge library of Tv and movies for a reasonable price.
They are offering a limited selection of good stuff with the rest being a huge number of
truly horrible content you could use as torture rather than enjoyment.
Another think I am curious to see them "solving" is people watching all they want in few days and just disconnecting. I am sure they see it is a huge loss of money.
I know, they could just release best shows slowly over several months.
But I feel like there is a better solution, a truly evil plan worthy of Netflix
that will make it impossible to "watch-steal" content.

 

[hash70]

Ripping th3 ****in arse out it now netflix,best thing I ever did was buy real debrid and a odroid n2 with coreelec /kodi ,I get all there content for free

 

[Mr Majestyk]

So you increase your revenue due to a successful crackdown on thieves, and reward the honest subscribers with a price rise. Well fcuk you Netflix. The moment I get the Australian price rise, is the moment I cancel. Well done m0rons.

 

[Nobina]

People pay money to absorb trash content, weird.

 

[trgz]

Surely with a 20% price increase we can expect 20% more new shows to be introduced right....Guys?....Ok can we at least expect 20% less premature and quite often, baffling show cancellations...Guys...

Seriously though, this is among the most short sighted decisions I've seen Netflix do and that says something: They were constantly crying about declining subscription rates and they finally get some traction with the new ad supported tier and what do they do? "Let's just not continue with a steady grow and let those new ad tier subscribers and returning ones settle in and get used to our service for at least a couple years, this is cash-in-hand this means we can now afford to burn any good will and extorting another price increase"

Sure you've got more ad tier subs now but is it really worth trading over most of your longest standing customers with another price increase? Do you really want to send the message of "Do NOT actually pay us more just downgrade to the ad tier, we'd actually want to make less money per customer now"? This is the same kind of behavior I'd expect from a gambling addict: Never actually do something worthwhile with your winnings just immediately put them down again on another bet to make extra sure you lose.

I'd be happy if they offered a 20% increase in quality - the 'shocking shower of <insert sweary alliterative of your choice>', before I dropped it before the summer (who has time for TV when the sun is out?), was just depressing, with just heaps of new 'straight to TV' movies and series from overseas (much like the Freeview UK TV content !) - Netflix was once a viable alternative for me, but now it's heading down to the level of the Roku channel.

 

[hash70]

There all ****in guilty ,not jst netflix,disney jst put there prices up as well,

 

[Impudicus]

And that's why I've canceled a few price hikes back. So long forever.

 

[Watzupken]

There will come a tipping point to all these price increases. There are still some good shows, but people may not have the money to keep throwing.