Netflix is planning (another) price hike since the last one in early 2022

[Shawn Knight]

TL;DR: Netflix is reportedly planning to increase the cost of its ad-free plan a few months after the conclusion of the Hollywood actors strike, sources familiar with the streaming giant's inner workings have told The Wall Street Journal.

The publication was not able to ascertain exactly when Netflix will make the change or by how much prices will go up, but it is believed that US and Canada will be among the first markets to see the hike. Unsurprisingly, Netflix declined to comment when reached by the Journal.

As the write-up highlights, the cost of several major ad-free streaming services has increased by about 25 percent on average over the last year or so, in part to get cost-conscious customers to switch to cheaper yet more lucrative ad-supported plans.

Streaming providers are also increasingly exploring new tiers centered on exclusive programming, such as live sports. Disney is said to be considering a live sports tier for markets outside of the US, and Warner Bros. Discovery will soon be adding live sports to its Max streaming service. Eventually, the sports package will command an extra $9.99 per month. Apple, meanwhile, already offers Major League Soccer's MLS Season Pass through its Apple TV+ platform.

Netflix has not increased prices since early 2022, but you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Over the summer, the streamer discontinued its most affordable ad-free tier in the US and the UK. The outgoing plan was priced at $9.99 per month; now, the cheapest commercial-free plan will set you back $15.49 each month.

Starting October 12, Disney will increase the cost of its ad-free streaming plans. Disney+ Premium, which currently costs $10.99 per month, is going up to $13.99 a month, an increase of more than 27 percent.

Netflix is the king of streaming, and all eyes will be on it over the coming months - and especially once the strikes end - to see what sort of price adjustments they have in store.

Image credit: Thibault Penin

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100365-netflix-planning-first-price-hike-since-early-2022.html

 

[VaRmeNsI]

It's almost like they want people to return to the 'high seas'.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I mean, why not? They got rid of password sharing and their consumer base lapped it up and went "more please!"

Well, here's some more.

 

[EdmondRC]

I cancelled Netflix a few months ago.

 

[Dimitrios]

COVID2.0 is coming to town and that means McMoney bags.

 

[emmzo]

Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum!

 

[toooooot]

They have to get to TV prices for most people to start questioning their decisions regarding subscriptions.
Before streaming, TV war ridiculously expensive, and with ads!
All streaming services, especially ad infused, are still very affordable.
Therefore, these companies definitely have room for getting more
money without losing a lot of customers.
I am curious to see when these services
will reach TV prices.

 

[Eric Mozzone]

Welp, time to cancel and power back on the Ol'e Plex server. I don't need you Netflix, stop thinking I do.

 

[Lounds]

I was a Netflix customer for 10 years and even paid for the family 4 screen for a good 5 years. But the change to allow only one house extra for the £5 was a deal breaker for me. I'm paying for 4 screens, who cares if it's in other households, I had my partners 80 year old grandma on it and her parents. Cancelled as soon as they brought in their BS and if there's anything Netflix I want to watch let's just say theres ways to view content. Their loss from their greed.

 

[Dimitrios]

I was a Netflix customer for 10 years and even paid for the family 4 screen for a good 5 years. But the change to allow only one house extra for the £5 was a deal breaker for me. I'm paying for 4 screens, who cares if it's in other households, I had my partners 80 year old grandma on it and her parents. Cancelled as soon as they brought in their BS and if there's anything Netflix I want to watch let's just say theres ways to view content. Their loss from their greed.

I dropped Netflix when they keep shoving Amy Schumer down my throat and trash budget movies and Obama getting involved. I'm tired with politics and Michael Moore.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I'm already paying $16.63 (with tax) a month. Even if it's not much, only 10% that means I'd be paying almost $2 more a month and I'm not going to keep my sub. I'm already paying $200 a year for something my family probably spends around 80-120 hours watching the entire year.

I haven't streamed anything off Netflix aside from Manifest, in the past 6 months and the wife only watches that British cooking show when new episodes come out. My daughter doesn't use Netflix anymore and my son watches the odd show here and there. I watch more off my Plex server than anything else. I'm nearly done with season 8 on X-Files and I've already seen the entire series multiple times, it's more entertaining than anything on Netflix.

I'd much rather put that $200 towards anything else, which is what I'll be doing when this price increase hits sometime in the near future.

 

[Watzupken]

At some point, Netflix will start to price themselves out. Over the years, the content quality at Netflix is going downhill, and for some popular series, they leave you with a cliff-hanger episode, and subsequently kill the series. That's bad.

 

[letsgoiowa]

I canceled and am rebuilding my Plex server. Darn you TrueNAS!

 

[Darth Zurath]

Why the hell not? Sheep gonna pay like they always have.

 

[Gezzer]

Price increases are one thing. But the content is really getting sparse. And anything I want to watch on the other services is released one episode per week. Even Netflix is starting to drip feed certain programs. It's getting ridiculous. As others have said time to put on my eye patch, and start a plundering...

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Price increases are one thing. But the content is really getting sparse. And anything I want to watch on the other services is released one episode per week. Even Netflix is starting to drip feed certain programs. It's getting ridiculous. As others have said time to put on my eye patch, and start a plundering...

The weekly episode release format is a good way to keep people subbing and avoid them subbing for one month, binge all the episodes and then drop the sub until something new comes out that they want only to have them sub for a month, binge all episodes and drop the sub again.

If you release the first couple of episodes and then the following 6-10 episodes weekly, you're looking to keep those people that like the shows locked into a 3 month long subscription to see the shows as they release. There will be some people that will just wait until all episodes are released, then sub, then binge and then drop the sub. But those that have to see them as they release so they're current with their group of friends, they'll hold that subscription.

It's a smarter business model over dropping all episodes all at once and I'm surprised they didn't start by doing this. Releasing all episodes at one time only helped to feed that instant gratification so many people are after. Once those people got their fix they eventually have learned they can drop their subscription until the next release comes out in a year or so. No sense in paying for something they won't really use.

However, it's a personal preference to each individual. For me, Netflix hasn't released anything binge worthy in a long time and certainly nothing worth waiting for weekly episodes to be released. I've only kept our sub since others in my household still use Netflix from time to time. I'm on the far end of the spectrum, in a minority that Netflix doesn't care about. They want that middle ground, appease to as many people as possible and drag out episode releases to keep people subbing as long as possible to increase revenue.

Once this new price increase comes along, I'm dumping Netflix. If someone else in the family wants to keep it going, they can pay for it because I'm done, it's just not a worthwhile streaming service to toss money at anymore.

 

[PaulDeemer]

I got rid of Netflix 4k and Switched to Max 4k. Max has more with the inclusion of Discovery and 17 other brands that is part of the Max package. Netflix won't be king for much longer I think.