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Netflix Announces Streaming Only Plans and Higher Prices for DVDs
micsaund writes "While Netflix has continued to drop fees and still maintain a good services, today, they take three steps in the other direction by doubling the cost of the plan you probably already have: 'So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans ... Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month ... Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month. ... The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99).' Now, if they could get everything available on streaming, this would be fine, but how many times have you needed to get a physical disc for that oddball movie, or had a movie in your instant queue that magically disappears due to some behind-the-scenes contract expiration or whatever?"
Well I'm not to sure how I feel about this. I currently have the streaming + 1 dvd. I only watch a dvd every few months but the option was still nice to have. There is no way I would pay 8 bucks a month for the few dvds I would watch. But on the other hand the streaming selection is pretty poor so paying 8 bucks a month for just streaming doesn't seem like that great of a deal. I think they've shot themselves in the foot but without a great alternative they will probably get away with it.
For $9 a month I can get HBO/Showtime from my cable company
My cable company won't even let me subscribe to HBO or Showtime until I already subscribe to a $80/mo bundle of other channels that I don't watch.
Now I do not have to pay for streaming that I could not use anyway because I do not user Windows or OSX.
I just switched from 2 DVDs out + unlimited streaming for $15 per mo to 2 DVDs out and no streaming for $12 per month. Same service, lower price.
Thank you Netflix!
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
The estimate is that in 2012, Netflix's license fees will go from $180 million in 2010 to $1.98 billion in 2012, according to this.
Its going to be very hard for anyone to become the legal clearinghouse for media at a price point most consumers see as reasonable because the studios won't allow it.
What?
Basically, this will drive people to use Redbox for disc-based movies and NetFlix for screaming.
The two rules for success are:
1) Never tell them everything you know.
The only Blockbuster left in a 10 mile radius of my house is an unmanned kiosk which is broken half the time. If I can't get everything via streaming, then Netflix has become far less useful to me. I was under the impression this was a semi-sustainable business; if I had known that they were just doing it long enough to kill the competition then jack up prices, I probably would have stuck with old faithful.
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This is why I've been sending back 3 DVDs in one mailer. I now have several hundred empty envelopes which I will promptly insert a slice of balogna into each and drop them into the mailbox. Statement made.
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This should have been seen as inevitable, since it's been made clear that the content owners have been floored by the success of Netflix and are trying to negotiate much better terms for themselves now.
I'm delighted at how little my own costs are going up (less than 8% I think).
I'm also a little frustrated that so many people are reacting so strongly to this -- the content owners would all rather force us into "Hulu+" (with subscription plus advertising), or to "Zune Marketplace" or "iTunes" (per-episode purchase or rentals), or back to cable operators, and all the folks who are dropping their Netflix subscriptions are helping that happen. Ah well.
I'm not going back. You'll have to live with some fraction of the cut you got for cable/satellite service, whether via Netflix or some other distributor. Streaming is the a la carte that should have been available 20 years ago. I will not pay for a package full of dreck. Pull whatever you want. I'll live with whatever is left over. You're not getting back to $70/month. Deal with it.
You need to adopt this attitude as well. These people need to take a few pay cuts.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
This is why I've been sending back 3 DVDs in one mailer. I now have several hundred empty envelopes which I will promptly insert a slice of balogna into each and drop them into the mailbox. Statement made.
If you are giving away free bologna send some my way.
$8/month streaming only - great for hopping around when I don't know what to watch.
$1/DVD rental at the video store at the end of my block for DVDs.
You did exactly what they wanted you to: stuck with them. Now you are paying the same amount as before but they're providing you less.
"We can categorically state we have not released man-eating badgers into the area." - UK military spokesman, July 2007
Umm, I have netflix on every TV in my house, my laptop, my desktop, my phone, my iPad, and soon my 3DS. My wife and I simultaneously watch content in different rooms all the time. Also, sure, you get 100s of shows, but you only get 1 show per channel at a time, and unless you record it, it's gone. With Netflix I can watch thousands of titles at any moment I want. Sure you do get slightly faster access with TV, but a lot of shows update on Netflix the next day. Also Netflix has tons of great features like party watching on Xbox 360. I watch movies with my best friend who lives 1,000 miles away all the time. I don't see cable having significant benefits over netflix unless there is a particular show you watch that they don't host or you HAVE to watch it the moment it airs. Personally, I've got the patience to wait.
Check out redbox for your individual/specific movie rental needs. Yeah, it's not quite as convenient as having stuff magically show you up at your door, but you get immediate gratification of picking out the movie you feel like seeing on that particular day and it's only $1. IMHO Netflix has the streaming right and Redbox has the physical media right.
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(Seriously, one of the things I love working at Netflix is the ability of an engineer to launch 1000 instances in the cloud, or, when we were in the DC, buy $100K worth of hardware, without any approval process)
I guess now we know why prices are going up! :D
You're not paying more because netflix just decided to charge more. You're paying more because studios have increased their price and because of a weakening dollar. Netflix is just trying to stay in business.
Whatever the reason, I see an increase in cost for a decrease in service provided. And more to the meat of your post, if the move were solely the fault of the studios, Netflix could certainly have done more to point this out in their blog post announcing the change. As it is, I see a lot of blather about in-house pricing decisions, but nothing about studio licensing costs -- which makes the whole affair look more like it's all about Netflix's bottom line.
(NB: I'm not saying that a company can afford to be purely charitable -- but raising prices without noticeably increasing or improving your offering, while at the same time claiming that they are "offering our lowest prices ever", sounds precious close to corporate babble and bald-faced lying. There're happy lies ["you look mahvelous in those trousers!"] and unhappy lies ["lower prices!" when they're really higher], and this one is unhappy.)
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
Congratulations! I will be canceling my account at the end of this month and switching entirely to Bittorrent. Thanks for making it even harder to do things the "legitimate" way. You killed the golden goose. You had a service that was actually easier and more convenient to me than downloading DVD rips from bittorrent; the price was right, the selection was adequate (but only just), and it was worth it to me to pay for it. Not anymore, I'll just take what I want for free from the superior service known as P2P filesharing. I suggest everyone else do the same.
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