Netflix will wait until Hollywood strikes end to hike streaming prices

AppleInsider said:

After a prolonged strike by Hollywood actors, Netflix is considering raising the price for its ad-free streaming service, falling in line with recent price changes among the top streaming platforms across the country.

Credit: David Balev/Unsplash

Ad-free streaming services have become 25% more expensive in the last year, as the entertainment industry aims to boost profitability and attract budget-conscious customers to their ad-supported subscription plans.

According to The Wall Street Journal Netflix plans to postpone the impending price hike until the conclusion of both the Hollywood writer and actor strikes. The Writers Guild of America recently announced a tentative agreement with studios, and the Screen Actors Guild, which initiated a strike in July, has resumed negotiations with Hollywood studios this week.

According to people familiar with the matter, there are talks about potential price increases happening in different countries around the world. However, it seems like the first changes might happen in the USA and Canada.

There is no specific information yet about how much prices will go up or when exactly these changes will happen.

Netflix recently discontinued its basic $9.99 per month plan without ads in the United States in July. Subscribers currently pay $15.49 for standard plan without ads and $6.99 for an add supported tier, which was launched in November 2022.

Other streaming platforms are also experimenting with new pricing structures that focus on offering exclusive content, such as live sports, without jeopardizing their existing subscriber base.

Read on AppleInsider

Don't be fooled. They haven't waited for anything, and they're leading the charge, not following others. Netflix already increased their price for ad-free streaming, less than three months ago. Follow the "recently discontinued" link in this article above. People who were paying for the $9.99 plan now have to pay at least $15.49 (a 55% increase!) to stay ad-free. At the same time, people who were paying $20 to get UHD resolution had to add $8 per person outside the house, if they were making use of the three extra streams bundled with that package for kids in college or mothers-in-law across the street. So it is absolutely incorrect to say that Netflix is waiting to hike prices until after the strikes end. They're waiting to hike the prices a second time, claim it's the first and blame unions for the extra costs to customers.

This is what I wrote when they hiked prices just a couple of months ago:

Clearly Netflix is analyzing how their customers are using the service and tinkering with a limited selection of package deals to muscle them into more expensive categories. They are raising prices on a lot of customers in such a way that they can claim they haven't raised prices. 

This way, when the writers and actors contracts are resolved they can raise prices a second time in the same year while claiming it's the first price increase and blaming that on union labor.

It appears I was correct, and sadly, based on the headline of this article, the sleight of hand has already worked.

"Hey, we can make a lot more money by degrading the user experience - and the best part is, we can raise prices for the people who don't want the degraded version!"

Yeah, nah. 🏴‍☠️

If not for it being free from T-Mobile, we wouldn't have Netflix. Let's see what happens.

I'm ashamed to say, I'm waiting for the last season of The Crown before I cancel (not ashamed that I'm going to cancel, ashamed that I'm watch The Crown). Plenty of content on Amazon Prime, Hulu, Max and all the other crap I've subscribed to keep me busy.