Netflix Plans to Up Their Prices to Give Members a "Better Experience".
If you've been a Netflix subscriber for a while then you'll know that, from time to time, they include a little price hike. We've had a Netflix subscription since it first debuted in 1997 sending out DVDs. We've watched them go from a DVD service to a streaming service and watched the price go up from $7 to $13 and never even batted an eye. Now, the streaming giant is gearing up for another price jump.
According to Variety, Netflix is "raising the price of the Standard two-stream HD plan, its most popular package, by about 8% — going from $12.99 per month to $13.99.
In addition, Netflix’s Premium tier (with four streams and including 4K Ultra HD content) is going up by $2, from $15.99 monthly to $17.99 for U.S. customers. The price of the company’s Basic plan (with a single non-HD stream) will remain at $8.99 monthly.
Current subscribers will see the new pricing over the next few months, according to a company rep. Members will be notified through email and also will receive a notification within the Netflix app 30 days ahead of their price increase. The timing will be based on the specific member’s billing cycle, according to Netflix."
A Netflix spokesperson says the increase is really for the better. “We understand people have more entertainment choices than ever and we’re committed to delivering an even better experience for our members." The streaming service has put out tons of original content and even landed network television money magnet Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes is bringing the same energy she put into "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" into the programming she'll write and produce at Netflix and, that alone, is worth an extra dollar.
If you're looking for cheaper options you can always check out kweliTV, the Black Owned streaming service, that features independent and Afrocentric films. kweliTV is about a third of the cost of Netflix at around $5.99 per month. There are also several free streaming services that people are using and you can find a pretty good list of them here.
Personally, because we're a cable-cutting company, we've got all of the streaming services and, we plan to keep Netflix as well.
