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Netflix is Raising Rates

Netflix is raising rates. Insiders informed Mashable this week that starting in November, subscribers of the company's $10 per month service will be charged $11 per month, and subscribers of the company's premium tier (which allows for four simultaneous streams) will be charged $14 per month, up from $12. The report indicates that subscribers should be formally alerted by Netflix on October 19, with at least thirty-days notice before the higher rates take effect.

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"From time to time, Netflix plans and pricing are adjusted as we add more exclusive TV shows and movies, introduce new product features and improve the overall Netflix experience to help members find something great to watch even faster," Netflix said of the latest hike.

While consumers won't like the price increase, and many have complained about Netflix's shrinking catalog, most have indicated they still see Netflix as a good value, especially when compared to the price of traditional cable.

In fact, one study last year indicated that 21% of Netflix customers said they would pay $16 or more per month for the streaming service. That said, Netflix can't push its luck, either; the same survey also found that 29.3% would prefer to pay any more than they do now, while 39.1% of those surveyed said they would pay $12-$15 per month, at most.

Again though, Netflix's leg room is in large part thanks to users tired of paying too much for bloated, traditional cable TV bundles. The same survey found that roughly 35% of consumers pay $100 or more on cable or satellite TV per month; 49% pay $51-$100 per month; 16% said they spend less than $50 on pay TV. And as most readers are well aware, those price hikes show no sign of slowing despite the growing pressure from cord cutters fleeing to alternative services.

Most recommended from 83 comments


Dodge
Premium Member
join:2002-11-27

22 recommendations

Dodge

Premium Member

The beginning of the end

Netflix dumped a metric f-ton of money into their original content, most of which is unwatchable garbage, hence I believe the real reason they dumped the star ratings and went to the moronic percent based rating system. It was very amusing to see all these netflix original comedy specials wind up with 1 star within a day. At the same time they are losing content that's not theirs. Their categorization system is getting completely absurd, and they are not fooling anyone that the same content is padded into every category. The amount of debt that netflix has, this is not the last price increase.

It was a good service while it lasted, but its usefulness, at least to me, is starting to draw to a close. And to those who are going to scream, well at least it's only 2 dollars, not like cable operators with their increases, I'm by no means comparing the two. I don't have cable tv service, and as such I'm only comparing what netflix used to be, what it is now, and what I perceive to be a degradation of service at increased price.
sd70mac
Premium Member
join:2015-10-18
Woodstock, IL

11 recommendations

sd70mac

Premium Member

Again?

Again? Well, at least the dollar amount of the increase is extremely small. Still, this is starting to get a little ridiculous.
Needleinthha
join:2009-11-30
Chandler, AZ

5 recommendations

Needleinthha

Member

sorry, but youre all wrong

Last price increase (prob even one before that) everyone on here was all "jeez its too expensive now! this is the end for them! everyones going to cancel"
And guess what? They just passed 100 Million subscribers....

Anonacd0c
@comcast.net

2 recommendations

Anonacd0c

Anon

No More for Me

Looks like it's a good thing I canceled my subscription. The price was fine compared to other options, but I dropped them because they no longer carry all but two of my favorite series (down from about a dozen), and the new rating system is just SO awful. The other day I saw a 98%-compatibility movie so poorly written that I'd have struggled to give it 1 star, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back. The fact that they feel they can increase the price while continuing to lower their own bar is just bad on principle.
AndyDufresne
Premium Member
join:2010-10-30
Chanhassen, MN

2 recommendations

AndyDufresne

Premium Member

Disney catalog

Enjoy those price increases while they can, once Disney catalog is pulled in next couple of years I don't think they will have leverage to increase rate every year without backlash. Still a good value at this point.