Netflix to increase pricing tomorrow

[ViRGE]

The number of people who weren't already pirating, but would now start because of the Starz situation, is so small it wouldn't even be measurable. Whether Starz can make more money by not working with Netflix remains to be seen.

I think that the golden age of Netflix is over. They aren't going to get any more cheap deals from content creators and they will either have less content, or have to raise their prices. I think the cell providers and how they are handling smartphone usage have given us a preview of what will happen to streaming video - the end of all-you-can-eat usage and either higher prices for the heavy users or a cap on usage.

Indeed. And it's not just Netflix that's going to get hit, it's going to be Amazon and everyone else who wants to offer AYCE content too.

For what Netflix charges for a single month the studios/distributors each want for themselves. A billion viewers doesn't do you any good if they only pay pennies when you could be making several dollars off of a smaller number of viewers. In lieu of price discrimination it's often best to just cut off the tightwads.

 

[ponyo]

The whole thing about Netflix was that it was on demand. Torrenting still takes time to download etc and illegal stream sites are not always up to speed. With the loss of instant streaming, whats the next alt?

Illegal stream sites not up to speed? Megaupload, fileserve, etc move huge amount of internet traffic. Primary purpose of these free hosting sites is to store and move illegal content. Instant streaming selection from Megaupload is far superior to Netflix. It's not as easy to setup and use for the general public and that's why it hasn't spread like wildfire. Average Joe isn't going to setup and use XBMC.

 

[tboo]

I dropped from two BDs plus streaming to just streaming. Lately, I've been taking advantage of my Prime account with Amazon & have been streaming from them.

 

[Freejack2]

I switched to streaming only. I get the feeling, though that in a year or so, I'm going to be reading an article with a title along the lines of: "How the big studios killed Netflix."

 

[dfuze]

Just cancelled the other day, haven't streamed from them in a while and they newer movies I want are taking forever to get to me. I have Amazon prime so I'll give that a shot (might as well since it's paid for!)

 

[HumblePie]

Right now I still have the streaming service although I rarely use it. My GF does use it a lot though. Still, I manage to use it on occasion. If they do another price hike to take it over $10 though per month for just streaming then I'm done with them. Not worth the additional cost to me.

 

[LookBehindYou]

I use the streaming service pretty much every day to watch something while on the treadmill every morning, and occasionaly on the weekends to watch something with the fam. I really don't want to give it up, but lack alternatives that are as good as netflix. (I have to use my ipad for the treadmill part of it)

 

[AstroManLuca]

I'm imagining an editorial cartoon with several draft horses (movie studios) tied to each limb of some poor sap (Netflix) and all pulling in different directions. Or perhaps imagine Netflix as a hen that lays golden eggs and... well you know the rest.

I remember when the iTunes music store first launched, Steve Jobs said that their goal was to put piracy out of business by offering an alternative that was so convenient and reasonably priced that people would want to use it even if they could download music for free. That is what Netflix is for movies. Jack up the price too much, or outright kill it to "protect" DVD sales, and people will go back to taking their chances with illegal downloading.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm imagining an editorial cartoon with several draft horses (movie studios) tied to each limb of some poor sap (Netflix) and all pulling in different directions. Or perhaps imagine Netflix as a hen that lays golden eggs and... well you know the rest.

I remember when the iTunes music store first launched, Steve Jobs said that their goal was to put piracy out of business by offering an alternative that was so convenient and reasonably priced that people would want to use it even if they could download music for free. That is what Netflix is for movies. Jack up the price too much, or outright kill it to "protect" DVD sales, and people will go back to taking their chances with illegal downloading.

You're exactly right. I won't buy movies on DVD or BD unless it is a special movie that I have to have, and I estimate that I might buy 3 or 4 a year and that's generally around the holidays as gifts for people or if I find an insane deal (like Batman Begins and Dark Knight for $5 each). Movie studios would make more money off of me by cutting deals with Netflix than relying on me to buy their movies since I buy so few.

And if these idiots get the bright idea to start their own streaming services, good luck convincing people to subscribe to 5+ services to be able to watch all the content they want.

 

[OverVolt]

Netflix's contracts with disney, starz, etc, are subscriber capped so they were/are trying to dump a few subscribers until they can renegotiate.

 

[NoCreativity]

I want to thank netflix price increase for finally getting me to cancel cable. Just need to find a decent antenna that can get me most of the OTA channels in metro detroit. Hopefully find it this weekend.

If netflix substantially ups their price on streaming, I'll drop that too and figure out something else.

 

[gothamhunter]

More and more reason to get myself a lifetime MU account.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Starz content is pretty much garbage anyway.

Starz content on Netflix includes recent Disney movies, which are always big moneymakers (Toy Story 3, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, etc.), plus some older classics like Casino and Night of the Living Dead... All told they have over 1,000 offerings, and while many of them are pretty bad, the loss of recent Disney films is definitely going to sting. It'll probably help drive up DVD sales for Disney though, so they're not losing sleep over it...

 

[slayer202]

I'm imagining an editorial cartoon with several draft horses (movie studios) tied to each limb of some poor sap (Netflix) and all pulling in different directions. Or perhaps imagine Netflix as a hen that lays golden eggs and... well you know the rest.

I remember when the iTunes music store first launched, Steve Jobs said that their goal was to put piracy out of business by offering an alternative that was so convenient and reasonably priced that people would want to use it even if they could download music for free. That is what Netflix is for movies. Jack up the price too much, or outright kill it to "protect" DVD sales, and people will go back to taking their chances with illegal downloading.

what's ONE album cost, a month worth of netflix? gimme a break. netflix remains a great deal for what they provide. if people wanna whine about paying more, they're stupid. if you don't use the service enough to justify the cost, you shouldn't be bitching.

 

[torpid]

Starz has a few shows too. Torchwood, Camelot, Spartacus: Boobs and Bondage.

 

[AstroManLuca]

what's ONE album cost, a month worth of netflix? gimme a break. netflix remains a great deal for what they provide. if people wanna whine about paying more, they're stupid. if you don't use the service enough to justify the cost, you shouldn't be bitching.

Nah, I'm not bitching about the price increase. It's disappointing but fairly minor. What would bother me is if Netflix streaming starts to lose content, or if the price continues to go up without any significant increase in their streaming library.