Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Netflix To Raise Prices By 13% To 18% (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

Netflix is raising its U.S. prices by 13 percent to 18 percent, its biggest increase since the company launched its streaming service 12 years ago. From a report: Its most popular plan will see the largest hike, to $13 per month from $11. That option offers high-definition streaming on up to two different internet-connected devices simultaneously. Even at the higher price, that plan is still a few dollars cheaper than HBO, whose streaming service charges $15 per month. The extra cash will help to pay for Netflix's huge investment in original shows and films and finance the heavy debt it has assumed to ward off rivals such as Amazon, Disney and AT&T. This marks the fourth time that Netflix has raised its U.S. prices; the last hike came in late 2017. But this is the first time that higher prices will hit all 58 million U.S. subscribers, the number Netflix reported at the end of September.

7 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. If only ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If only there were a way to pay for original programming by using advertising or something. That way, everybody could have all of these TV "networks" piped into their homes for a low cost fee and maybe even pick and choose "plans" that suite them as a mix and match of the "channels" with shows they like to watch. It should really keep the cost down vs having to pay $15 to all these separate streaming services ... oh wait

    1. Re:If only ... by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Streaming brings better quality and less time loss.

      So does piracy. Every incremental price increase makes piracy look like a better deal. Netflix better be careful about finding that sweet spot and staying within it.

    2. Re:If only ... by atrex · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeash, you cable TV trolls just never stop do you.

      #1: Advertising is absolute shit, I'd sooner not watch anything than go back to being brainwashed by ad networks
      #2: Cable TV is broadcast on it's schedule and that's it. Miss a show/forget to DVR it? Too bad, so sad - better hope they decide to re-air it at a later date and time. Streaming let's you pick anything from the library to watch whenever and wherever you want it.
      #3: Cable TV is f'ing expensive, and most people are paying for high speed internet service regardless of whether they want video entertainment to watch or not.
      #4: Signing up for multiple streaming services is no different than deciding you want to pay for HBO, and Cinemax, and Showtime, and Starz, and etc. Except that most streaming services also offer huge libraries of other content, not just original content.
      #5: You want ad supported streaming? Guess what, that exists! You can watch stuff on Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation, and I'll bet several other streaming services for free if you're willing to sit through some ads.

  2. Such a huge $2 price hike by ranton · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This summary does a very good job at making a $2 per month price increase appear very dramatic.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    1. Re:Such a huge $2 price hike by ledow · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If your other goods or services (e.g. broadband) went up by 13-18%, I'm sure you'd complain too.

      "It's only $2" is the refuge of a person with $2 to spare and expecting everyone else to ALWAYS have $2 to spare, on top of whatever they are paying for everything else. That's $2 a month, which is worse. You're now inching towards cable/satellite bills.

      I stopped my Netflix. It was my only "TV" for about a year. But then I realised that all the "unique" content I didn't really care about, all the existing content I could just buy or watch for free on broadcast, and then they started getting finicky over how many devices, talking about adverts, etc.

      I refuse to pay more than a token, throwaway payment for something that is just visual entertainment. I have Amazon Prime because it actually saves me money on delivery enough to justify itself, and then I get "free TV" on there too. I had Netflix because it was cheap and I could watch a lot of things. Once I'd watched those things, I didn't really care to pay for them continuously, and a lot of them came on Amazon Prime anyway.

      Now my TV is actually a Raspberry Pi with a DVB adaptor. It costs me nothing, streams to my laptop, my phone, etc. and I can VPN in to watch it too (which bypasses a load of regional nonsense when I go on holiday). And I don't have a big box on the wall wanting to talk to everything.

      It takes a lot to make me cut a service that I'm already signed up to. But I did it before Netflix raised prices in my country. They're going to struggle if they keep doing that.

      In rise with inflation, or give me something more for the money.

  3. Re:Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How long before Netflix becomes just as bad as cable?

    Seems like a bit of a slippery slope fallacy. If, like me, you don't care that much about sports then Netflix is a very good option and still orders of magnitude more reasonably priced than cable. That and I don't have to deal with ads.

  4. What the market will bear by sjbe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If your other goods or services (e.g. broadband) went up by 13-18%, I'm sure you'd complain too.

    Happens all the time and about things I care about a LOT more than TV. Health insurance routinely increases by similar percentage amounts and the actual dollar amounts are FAR higher.

    "It's only $2" is the refuge of a person with $2 to spare and expecting everyone else to ALWAYS have $2 to spare, on top of whatever they are paying for everything else. That's $2 a month, which is worse. You're now inching towards cable/satellite bills.

    This is the US, i.e. the richest country in the world. Most of us really do have $2 to spare, even most of the less fortunate among us. If the $2 is a problem then perhaps you should reconsider paying $11 (or $13) a month to an objectively frivolous TV streaming service.

    Seriously, if it's a problem for a lot of their customers Netflix will have to deal with the loss. If their customers mostly don't care (as I suspect most won't) then it isn't really a problem. Expecting Netflix to just keep their prices static and let inflation eat away their profits endlessly is naive.

    I refuse to pay more than a token, throwaway payment for something that is just visual entertainment.

    That's reasonable. Many others are willing to pay more. Neither of you is wrong for doing so.