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Netflix is Testing a New 'Ultra' Tier of Service (cnet.com)
Netflix may be introducing a new, higher tier of service. From a report: Known as Ultra, the new tier would allow four devices to receive Ultra HD video and audio streaming simultaneously, according to Italian blog Tutto Android. Netflix currently has three subscription plans: $7.99 Basic, $10.99 Standard and $13.99 Premium. Basic allows users to watch Netflix on one screen at a time; Standard allows viewing on two screens; and Premium allows four screens. Screens can be TVs, laptops, tablets or smartphones. "We continuously test new things at Netflix and these tests typically vary in length of time," Smita Saran, a Netflix spokeswoman, said in an email. "In this case, we are testing slightly different price points and features to better understand how consumers value Netflix."
The one that more people are subscribing to because they're tired of Netflix's nonsense.
Say I don't want any of my cash to end up in Fox's coffers in license fees, I could go for a Netflix Originals only tier - what about that?
AC comments get piped to
We shouldn't be surprised that they are testing the possibility of simply making more money, although we may have been fooled these past few years into thinking that Netflix's low prices were based on some kind of nice-guy philosophy rather than being an aggressive market-share-grabbing tactic. Now that they've got the market share they are in a position to make a bit more of a squeeze out of their customers. This is just what marketing departments do. If people show that they are willing to pay then the new tier will be a permanent thing. The customer base would do well to not screw itself over and strongly resist this trend but I'm guessing we'll be surprised by the outcome i.e. it will prove successful. Not all of their customers are price-savvy.
They effectively already did this and had to be strongly pressured by content providers to put any kind of limitation on it. It was a big selling point of netflix that all you needed was a DNS hack to watch any region you wanted. They certainly knew this and knew it bought them a truck load of customers.
Australia's No-Broadband-Service can't cope with existing loads. What's this going to do to peak-time speeds?
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
Time to rethink that paper insulated NN rules for all POTS wireline.
Time for some new innovative community broadband so gated communities and gentrified zip codes can enjoy more 4K.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I wonder if they'll make me watch -- I... mean... -- if I'll get to watch ST Discovery?
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
That was attempted by a few streaming services. HD US streaming shows getting cash in from around the world on the same day as a US release.
Happy fans, happy content owners. A healthy profit for the next show.
What did national network owners do?
Demand that only they could show US media later. Much later.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I'm on Premium, and already and always have 'Ultra'/4k as part of it for four screens
Offer a tier that grants access to movies without geographic restrictions. You know how many Canadians would pay for US content?
I was about to say the same thing. I have a 4K UHD TV an Premium Netflix already. The only other thing I would want from Netflix is access to ALL of the content from ANY region.
Also, nobody should be surprised about a price increase from Netflix. They're the market leader when it comes to video streaming, this is what companies do in that position.
Posting anon because I modded you up
Instead of subscriptions? :/
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I'm very tired of Netflix, to which I subscribe.
The rating system changes, the annoying previews and trailers that automatically play at every spot on there user interface, and the decreased screen real estate for viewing possible selections have really bothered me. The ham-fisted: 'You will like what we provide and have no choice', 'Your input is not important', and 'We can do what we want' attitude is, unfortunately, becoming the norm for them (did they hire a bunch of people from the cable company?)
They are, in fact, hard to cancel -- but, like cable, after a few months the pain should decrease. Unlike cable, it is not so much a matter of cost as a matter of annoyance, unresponsiveness, and an increasing lack of options.
And then Comcast throttles the speed to 480p anyway.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Netflix used to be great with lots of good TV shows and movies. They did well with some OC but lately everything feels B rated and meh.
It's bad enough that I've pulled the plug last month and canceled it.
Maybe next year I'll do a month free trial and see if things have improved.
I can't tell if you're promoting sharing accounts or not buying the service.
Nobodys forcing you to buy it. You can always continue to use the cheaper service.
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
(Is it 4 screens... It 4 people? Wink wink).
For the wink, wink to happen, you would neet at least 8 people in front of those 4 screens. ..and chill part of netflix activities usually requires a minimum of 2 bodies.
The
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Have you suffered a head injury?
This snippet isn't telling the full story.
While basic is limited to 1 screen, it's also limited to only SD streaming.
Standard has HD
And now this new premium has 4k HD
But prior to this plan change, standard members could stream 4k video. Now they require you to pay about 20% more to get what you previously had.
Out here where I live, the only ones spying on me outside are rabbits, birds, and the occasional squirrel (more so now that the walnut trees have matured).
but we are back to the same old cable tv crap. Subscribe to 5 services to get what we want. The main difference is that it is over IP, on demand and the company names have changed a bit.
Not that I expected that it would turn out otherwise.
L'Idiot
Four screens in a household really doesn't seem unrealistic.
> In which case this is really Netflix lowering rates...
Lowering rates of *what*? They added the 2 screen / HD tier at a higher price, a 4 screen / 4K tier for even more money, and base tier is a one screen SD tier at the legacy HD price. Notably, the title selection has gone down a lot too.
Maybe lowering rates of account sharing? If so, I haven't seen or heard that happen yet. I'm surprised they haven't cracked down on that, maybe they're smarter than I give them credit.
I prefer the expanded catalog of the DVD/Blu-Ray plan.
Had to RTFA to see the nasty part of this change: Premium users may get cut down to 2 screens at a time from the current 4. Premium already offers Ultra HD content across 4 screens. So this is basically another way for Netflix to hike their streaming prices, not offer customers more choice.
I just looked at my plan before I typed this to make sure I wasn't reading wrong. I am on the Premium plan which is 4 screens + Ultra HD. That's right. Ultra HD on all 4 screens. So ... this is definitely fake news.
I do not respond to trolls (AKA Anonymous Cowards)
Netflix is far from the market leader today if you go by the amount of content they actually have. Amazon Prime has a MUCH larger movie selection, and Hulu has a much larger TV series selection. Netflix falls somewhere inbetween, but they do have the best (IMHO) interface. If you are just looking to watch something interesting netflix is pretty good at finding stuff you may not have heard about that you will enjoy. If you are looking for a service where you already know what you want to watch, then Amazon Prime is much better (if it isn't a Netflix Original that is).
Why allow a user to create 5 different accounts (or is it 4?) if you can only view it on 1 or 2 screens using their basic/standard services? If you're going to lock it down, lock it down as 1 screen per family member.
Yeah, it's really sparse. Thor: Ragnarok is available elsewhere in UHD, but Netflix, despite these tiers, won't pay the extra licensing? Sad.
...
American here. Most of what I watch is Canadian TV, so I understand the frustration of geolocked content. Trailer Park Boys and Letterkenny are the two best shows out of Canada. See also Red Green Show for those of us who aren't handsome, but are at least handy.
Annoying your customers is stupid, not evil. Netflix don't have ads and ensure it is a pleasurable viewing experience because that's a good business model for them. That doesn't make them more or less evil, it makes them smart enough to know how to keep the revenue coming in. But people are naive if they think Netflix won't push the boundaries of what their customers will accept in order to try and make more money. That's exactly what they're doing here. And you, sir or madam, are the nincompoop