Netflix’s Grandfathered Subscribers to See Monthly Price Increase From $8 to $10 for HD

[MacRumors]

During its financial results meeting yesterday, Netflix reminded its shareholders that the price-reduced grandfathered plans of long-time subscribers will be ending in 2016 (via Engadget). Grandfathered subscribers can choose to opt out of the imminent price hike, but it means they will lose access to HD quality streams.

Beginning in an undisclosed window of the second or third quarter of 2016, those members will be offered a choice: stay with the $7.99 price and get lowered to SD-quality video streaming, or upgrade to $9.99 per month to stick with HD-quality videos. Netflix introduced three new tiers for new members onto the service back in October, including the two previously mentioned $7.99 and $9.99 options, along with a "Premium" $11.99 tier that gives viewers access to 4K.

The first word regarding an incoming price increase for older Netflix users came nearly two years ago, so it might have been easy for grandfathered members to forget about the added money they'd have to pay to use the service in 2016. Still, Netflix calls its customers "loyal," and doesn't think the price jump will be a big deterrent for most grandfathered subscribers, especially thanks to the amount of original programming the service is producing this year.

"Given these members have been with us at least 2 years," the company points out, "we expect only slightly elevated churn. In 2016, we plan to launch over 600 hours of original programming, up from about 450 hours in 2015."

Similar to when it announced the two-year hold on price jumps for grandfathered accounts, the company is expected to send affected customers a warning email before the new charges begin.

Article Link: Netflix's Grandfathered Subscribers to See Monthly Price Increase From $8 to $10 for HD

 

[AkuskaUK]

Stopping VPN's and changing a grandfathered price? Oh Netflix... bad choices.

 

[chr1s60]

Netflix has stepped their game up with original programming but they still lack when it comes to newer movies. Continuing to raise prices better show improvement in that area or I will soon be canceling my subscription.

 

[iMember]

Already cancelled my account!

 

[Corrode]

it might have been easy for grandfathered members to forget about the added money they'd have to pay to use the service in 2016

Nailed it. I had no idea they were going to start charging for different quality tiers. $9.99 is still worth it to me. I only watch 2-3 hours of TV per week but, being the only TV/video service I pay for, it's still good value.

 

[matjamca]

We live in the UK and use a VPN to access US Netflix. If we can longer access US Netflix, due to VPN blocking, they'll have 1 less paying subscription.

 

[jbachandouris]

I haven't used their service in months. Looks like it's time to cancel.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Not really gradfathered now, is it?

 

[xero9]

This is getting hard to swallow.. Not because of Netflix's pricing directly, but because prior to realizing every Netflix account is the same it just depends on your current "location" I had signed up for Netflix US. As a Canadian, the price has gone up and up. If the price jumps to $10 I'll basically be paying an extra 50%.

 

[dancefreak]

I know people will be all up in arms about a couple bucks, but I was on the old grandfathered rate until switching to the $11.99 tier when we got our 4K tv last month. It's actually still a great value for us because you can have four concurrent logins on one account. My wife and I gave one each to our parents so they don't have to pay for their own accounts. Even without a ton of old movies, we watch the original content enough to be more than worth it.

 

[GeneralChang]

Well shoot. That's me. I knew it was coming, I just hoped somehow it wouldn't. Oh well. With their recent partnership with Marvel, it's worth the extra $2 to me.

 

[Nermal]

This is getting hard to swallow.. Not because of Netflix's pricing directly, but because prior to realizing every Netflix account is the same it just depends on your current "location" I had signed up for Netflix US. As a Canadian, the price has gone up and up. If the price jumps to $10 I'll basically be paying an extra 50%.

I used to have a US account but now have an NZ one because it's cheaper that way. You can switch to local billing by cancelling your account and then reactivating it without using a VPN or DNS proxy.

 

[iMember]

Netflix has stepped their game up with original programming but they still lack when it comes to newer movies. Continuing to raise prices better show improvement in that area or I will soon be canceling my subscription.

Step it up? You mean completely rip off my favorite character Logan with that pg Jessica Jones?
Marco Polo it's great! But because of Jessica Jones now i have to wait 8 more months to watch the series, basically Netflix showing us the finger because we didn't support that stupid Marvel show

 

[S.B.G]

2 years... at least we knew this was coming for a while. I don't have any problem adding a few bucks to keep the HD service. I use Netflix a lot, so the low price is well worth it to me. I actually didn't know, until now, that they offered 4K service too. I don’t have any 4K TV's so I won't be upgrading to that... for now.

 

[critter13]

let the rage begin haha. probably the best 10$ a month you can spend in regards to entertainment.

 

[oldtime]

This sucks, but you can't expect prices not to ever increase. Not to get too political, but the real problem for a lot of people (and why there will be some backlash to this) is that disposable entertainment options like Netflix continue to become more expensive while discretionary income continues to shrink, so that $2 price hike feels like more than it is.

I still think there's enough content on Netflix to make it worth $10 a month, but it's not worth much more than that to me.

 

[talmy]

Even grandfathers eventually die. Will probably drop to SD and maybe reactivate the DVD plan for movies.

 

[clukas]

$9.99 now -> $14.99 later -> $29.99 much later. When cable companies are gone and online streaming are the last remaining choices, well see prices rise to todays cable prices.

 

[tkukoc]

I only watch the older stuff they have. Their original material is horrible. How about taking those off my lists so I don't see them and keeping my price where its at?!!

 

[KALLT]

The price is still worth it, I would happily pay triple if I could retain access to all countries with a VPN and Netflix would add a lot more material. However, if my VPN access is blocked, I will cancel too. I still feel ripped off when I compare the size of the catalogue of the US to anything else.

 

[AlexH]

Still worth it at this price point (to me), but if it increases to 12+/month, I'll have to reevaluate my options.

 

[nsfw]

Netflix has stepped their game up with original programming but they still lack when it comes to newer movies. Continuing to raise prices better show improvement in that area or I will soon be canceling my subscription.

I'd actually like to see them not even try on newer movies. Spend the money on buying content from other sources like the BBC or create more of their own original content. If I want to watch the latest and greatest movie then I don't mind just shelling out $3.99 to rent it vs hoping to wait two years for netflix to get it.

 

[rp2011]

It's nice about the original programming but i signed up because of the movies. Whenever I check for new releases all I get is really old movies or tv shows.

I realize that the movie studios are now playing hard ball and are vying their options and may have their own streaming intensions or services but it's still not what I originally signed up for. And sadly there is no great service streaming option for everything. I pay for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime and it adds up.

I got to say since I cut the cord I watch a lot more Hulu than any other service and that its my goto streaming service.

Amazon makes you jump through hoops for watching their service on the big screen. They are trying to get me to get a Fire device but no dice. I will get Roku before I do that.

 

[chr1s60]

let the rage begin haha. probably the best 10$ a month you can spend in regards to entertainment.

It really depends on what you are looking for and how often you use it. For newer tv and movies I think Netflix is a bad option. If you like older shows and movies it works well. They also have some decent Netflix only programming and a lot of stand up comedy if you're into that. Other options like Hulu and/or Redbox are better options for many.

I'd actually like to see them not even try on newer movies. Spend the money on buying content from other sources like the BBC or create more of their own original content. If I want to watch the latest and greatest movie then I don't mind just shelling out $3.99 to rent it vs hoping to wait two years for netflix to get it.

Two years is a stretch for most movies. There are good movies that came out 6 years ago that Netflix hasn't had. I'm not talking about getting the newest releases only, but more good movies from the past 5 years isn't asking for much.

 

[iMember]

Apple TV app please!