Bad news for Netflix users, the price of the popular streaming service is going up. Starting this month, Netflix is raising the prices on their plans, some by as much as 10 percent for U.S. subscribers. The standard tier plan, which allows subscribers to watch on two screens at once, will go from $9.99 to $10.99 per month. The premium tier plan, which is available in Ultra HD and allows users to watch on up to four screens, jumps up from $11.99 to $13.99. The Basic $7.99 per month plan will stay the same price. Netflix stated that customers will be notified of the change based on their billing cycle, beginning on October 19th. Anyone who signs up for Netflix today and going forward will have to pay the new, higher prices and the cheaper rate will no longer be offered.
[protected-iframe id=”733ca64548af5510652638e5ae282b5b-97886205-93291949″ info=”//static.apester.com/js/sdk/v2.0/apester-javascript-sdk.min.js” height=”840″ class=”apester-media”]
The last Netflix price bump came in 2015. Even with the price increases, Netflix, which has 100 worldwide million subscribers and 53 million U.S. subscribers, is still competitive against other streaming giants. The $10.99 standard tier is still cheaper than HBO Now’s $14.99 per month plan and Hulu’s $11.99 commercial-free plan.
“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,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. Netflix believes its price rate is justified by recent service improvements including the ability to download shows onto phones or other devices to watch them offline. Plus the costs to create original content is extremely exorbitant. Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company plans to spend approximately $7 billion on content in 2018, up $1 billion from what it spent in 2017.
[USNews]