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Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

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Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#21

To raise prices when apps like popcorn time come around and threaten your very existence seems like the height of stupidity to me.

What will probably end up occurring is the countries were torrents are legal will end up keeping the same price of $7.99... Where as countries that have laws against torrents, will most likely have an increase. Popcorn-time doesn't make it legal to torrent/stream videos without purchase in the United States, thus we can safely say that the price in the United States will increase.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#22
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

If it had 90% of movies and TV shows (weighted by popularity), I'd easily pay $100/month. Of course I could get it all for free by pirating it, but not having to would be tremendously more convenient.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#24
post #20
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

Agreed. I'd pay a couple bucks more a month for twice the selection. I'm a film nut and love a lot of old titles that aren't available. My Disc queue is way more interesting than my streaming queue

If they added more older/rarer/foreigner films I'd happily pay more than they charge now (vs. not subscribing currently)!

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hulu -> Ads Vudu -> Don't you have to pay way more than $7.99 if you watch a few shows/videos a month? Amazon -> Honestly, not impressed unless they start making it work on all platforms. That said, I think C is always going to be the anchor that drags Netflix down which is why they started generating their own catalog. If they can get up to a HBO quality of selection/service on their current model...with the same le…

>who wouldn't pay $120/year for streaming everything HBO has? For me, the appeal of Netflix in the DVD-by-mail era was a large complete-feeling catalog of movies. They have not been able to recreate that experience in the streaming era, which is why they lost me as a customer a couple years back (replaced by a la carte rentals from iTunes, and a great local video store). They indeed seem to have decided to become ano…

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Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#26
post #11

I understand the price hike, but Netflix feels like its value to me as a media consumer is stagnating. House of Cards and a bit of laziness is why I've kept it, but I consider ditching it whenever I'm reminded of the fact that I pay for it. If they want to survive they need to do 3 things imho: 1. Improve their recommendation algorithm 2. More high quality original series (preferably without extorting Maryland for it…

Netflix's problem is that they can't prevent #3 - case in point, my daughter discovered Ponyo on Netflix which was possible through NF's agreement with Starz. At some point Starz refused to give Netflix a license to their licensable content (i.e., to many Disney titles in this case) at any cost.

Of course, we now own the video as it's highly rewatchable for the kiddo, but I wouldn't doubt that Neflix would have happily paid ever increasing content costs to a point but their supplier cut them off because they felt Netflix was competing with them.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#27
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

It's cheap, but I wouldn't pay much more for it. There really is very little I find worth watching on Netflix. A couple of TV series, and few random other things. I hardly ever watch a movie.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#28
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

The missus was pretty shocked that Spotify Premium costs more than Netflix. Once she brought that up, I actually thought about it and absolutely agree.

$7.99/mo had that perfect impulse-buy attraction to it, and got me into the game. But after using it and seeing the kind of content they've been building (even despite the content that they've lost, and will contractually have to lose later), $10/mo still seems pretty palatable to me too.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#29
I’m surprised that the quotes, and graphics (unsourced, but presumably provided by Netflix) insist on the international dimension of that decision — and yet, no-one in this discussion mentions that point. Netflix is roughly the same price in countries with different standards of living, and such an evolution is most likely going to mean adapting — and more cross-frontier purchases. I’m already doing it: I first booked Netflix in one country; moved and kept my orignal subscription, out of laziness to be honest, but it would have been expensive to switch.

About outright piracy: all the shows available on Netflix are available ‘elsewhere’, and many here (me included) have previously expressed their frustration of local limits for certain shows when one travels. Paying for Netflix is made out of convenience and respect for the economics of video creation: I don’t think a price-hike, combined with announces about investment in new content, will trigger that many pirates. At least, I hope I’m not wrong about that.

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