Nothing says Blue Monday like your favourite TV streaming service and chill partner conspiring against you, and right on cue Netflix has raised prices across all of its plans in the US today. The firm’s standard plan is rising to $15.50 per month from $14, while the 4K plan is increasing from $18 to $20. What of the basic no-HD plan? That is also more expensive, rising to $10 per month from $9.
The new pricing strategy goes into effect immediately for new subscribers. For existing Netflix users, the changes will allegedly be rolled out “gradually,” and Netflix promises to email you 30 days before your fee hike goes into effect.
“We’re updating our prices so that we can continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options,” a Netflix spokesperson told Reuters. “As always, we offer a range of plans so members can pick a price that works for their budget.”
As noted by The Verge, prices are also set to go up in Canada.
Bumping fees is nothing new at Netflix, with prices going steadily higher in recent years. In the US, the standard plan went up to $14 per month from $13 in late 2020 (after rising from $11 to $13 from from $11 in 2019). In 2014, when Netflix announced its first large-scale price increase, the streaming behemoth actually allowed existing members to keep their subscribed-at price for two years. Sadly, it hasn’t been so generous since.
The Squid Game distributor can justify increases to its pricing by pointing to the launch of its gaming platform (including five free titles at launch) late last year and the high-efficiency AV1 streams it has been bringing to compatible TVs for the first time, for starters, although increased competition from rivals such as Disney Plus and HBO Max – which is currently offering 20 per cent off its ad-supported or ad-free plans for 12 months – will almost certainly keep Netflix humble to a degree.
And Netflix isn’t the only service that has been raising prices lately – Hulu bumped the price of its ad-free and ad-supported tiers by a dollar per month in October.
Will we see similar Netflix price hikes in the UK and Australia? Watch this space...
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