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Netflix Warning Grandfathered Customers About Monthly Price Hike Coming in May

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In January, Netflix announced that it was raising the prices for all of its subscription tiers, making the popular "Standard" tier increase from $10.99/month to $12.99/month. This change took effect immediately for new customers signing up for Netflix, while existing customers were grandfathered into their prices for a limited time.

netflix-price-hike.jpg

That time is now almost up, as Netflix has begun emailing grandfathered customers on the day of their subscription renewal, warning them that their monthly subscription cost will be going up in May. A warning will also appear within the Netflix mobile app. This change affects all tiers: the cheap "Basic" tier will rise from $7.99 to $8.99/month, the popular HD "Standard" tier will rise from $10.99 to $12.99/month, and the 4K "Premium" tier will rise from $13.99 to $15.99/month.

In the email, Netflix says that this price hike is required to improve the service so that subscribers can have "even more" TV shows and movies to enjoy. Netflix has been quickly increasing the amount of original content on its service as third parties remove their films and TV shows and create their own streaming platforms, like Disney has done for its upcoming service Disney+. In order to fund all of the original productions, subscription costs have now increased for all Netflix users.
We hope you have been enjoying your Netflix membership. We are writing to let you know about an upcoming change. Your monthly price is increasing to $12.99 on Thursday, May 9th 2019. Why? We're hard at work improving Netflix so that you can have even more great TV shows and movies to enjoy.

Here's to watching what you want, when you want, where you want. You can change your plan, or if you do not wish to continue your membership, as always you can cancel any time at netflix.com/cancel.
We're here to help if you need it. Visit the Help Center for more info or contact us.

-The Netflix Team
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This new price hike represents a jump of between 13 percent and 18 percent, which is Netflix's biggest price increase since it launched streaming 12 years ago. According to a CNBC report, Netflix will also use the extra cash to finance debt that it's recently taken on to "ward off streaming threats" from rivals like Apple, which just revealed its Apple TV+ streaming service that's set to launch later in 2019.

As of 2019, this is the fourth price hike for Netflix subscribers in the streaming service's history. The HD Standard tier was priced at $7.99/month, rose to $8.99/month in 2014, and then to $9.99/month in 2016, when CEO Reed Hastings reported an "unexpected" loss of subscribers due to the hike. In November 2017 the tier rose to $10.99/month, and now it will be priced at $12.99/month.

Article Link: Netflix Warning Grandfathered Customers About Monthly Price Hike Coming in May
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/09/netflix-warning-price-hike-may/
I don't understand. Netflix was introduced so people can "cut cable off" because it was cheaper. Now third parties are removing their content from Netflix because they want to launch their own streaming services which will probably cost the same as Netflix. So cable is now pretty much out of the picture(compared to 10 years ago), BUT now there are tons of different streaming services to choose from. This is like the cable era all over again.
 
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mlabonte21 said:
For just an extra $2, you can get:
  • All Marvel Shows Cancelled
  • All Disney/Pixar/Marvel Movies removed by years-end
  • Airplay Support Removed
What a bargain!!
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Also, requiring customers to spend $3/month extra just to get 4K HDR is just price gouging. $12.99/month plan should offer the best quality available. Original programmings from Amazon Prime, upcoming Apple TV+, and YouTube all offer 4K HDR at no additional cost.
 
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I barely use Netflix at all and the Marvel shows were the only draw.

My son wanted me to keep it, so I did. Now Hulu DROPPED their prices while Netflix raised theirs?!?
 
felixroqu3 said:
I don't understand. Netflix was introduced so people can "cut cable off" because it was cheaper. Now third parties are removing their content from Netflix because they want to launch their own streaming services which will probably cost the same as Netflix. So cable is now pretty much out of the picture(compared to 10 years ago), BUT now there are tons of different streaming services to choose from. This is like the cable era all over again.
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The TV show market doesn't have much to do with the medium through which they send the video. Netflix was an innovator, but now others are catching up. Pretty sure I said this would happen a few years ago.
 
nutmac said:
Also, requiring customers to spend $3/month extra just to get 4K HDR is just price gouging. $12.99/month plan should offer the best quality available. Original programmings from Amazon Prime, upcoming Apple TV+, and YouTube all offer 4K HDR at no additional cost.
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Eh, I don't think you can complain about "price gouging" for getting 1080p instead of 4K. This is beyond "first world problems." And there are alternatives anyway.
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Johnny Steps said:
Man that message reeks of corporate fisted PR nonsense. It weirdly seems better and less insulting if they would just be straight forward.
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I agree, and the AirPlay announcement was even worse. "We don't want to play video on devices we haven't certified" or whatever. Glad I'm not subscribed. I get offended by these things more than I should, haha
 
Mr. Donahue said:
Bye bye Netflix. You too greedy too fast. You ain’t HBO. HBO isn’t even HBO and you charging HBO prices!!!!! Eeeek!
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Netflix has way more content than hbo
[doublepost=1554829046][/doublepost]Do people realize Netflix paying for content and even making their own costs billions of dollars? They either have to lose content, have their library turn stale and lose customers, or raise the price and keep making good stuff and piss off others who don’t wanna pay a dollar or two more month. It’s lose lose.

But for what I get, I consider it to be one of the best values out of everything I pay for. I could easily JUST have Netflix and be totally happy with what I get. In a time with a million streaming services vying for your money, that’s saying something
 
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Ghost31 said:
Netflix has way more content than hbo
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Yes but so much of what’s on Netflix is awful. They create a ton of stuff and throw it all at the wall. It’s very hit or miss. HBO has much more consistent high quality (though they have occasional garbage as well)

And I say that as a long time Netflix subscriber who has no plans to cancel.
 
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Well. If their original content mostly sucks and they keep raising prices...I mean...they could always fall back to just renting discs again. Everyone still uses those. Right?

Now there is a little bit of news this week that Netflix is buying the Egyptian theater in Hollywood. Eh’hem.
 
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