Netflix prices going up again, a lot this time

[jagabo]

Just got this in an email:

We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.

Your current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $7.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.

Also at cnn.com:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/12/technology/netflix_unlimited_dvd/index.htm?hpt=te_bn1

That's a 60 percent price increase! Not good. Especially after losing streaming of Sony products (and probably more soon):

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm?iid=EL

Several items in my streaming queue disappeared because of that.

[zoobie]

They'll be hit hard again when the USPS drops Saturday delivery...
But it looks like my DVD plan is actually going to cost less now

[freebird73717]

Well that sucks. I'll drop my plan to streaming only then. My wife got the email but didn't tell me and said she deleted it already. We've got a dvd kiosk similar to redbox nearby so I'll just start renting movies from there.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I got the email today from Netflix and this does suck, streaming only for me because I hardly rent their DVD's anymore.
If I want a new release I'll just use Amazon VOD or visit Redbox.

[Des]

I'm not sure what I'll do yet. I certainly stream a lot more than I rent, but I still rent at least one a month. Guess I'll see if there are any alternatives I can use. Amazon looks promising, but I don't have any devices on my TV that can stream it, and not sure if I want to invest in any at this time.

If Netflix could work out the licensing to be able to offer more of their catalog via streaming then it wouldn't be a problem.

--dES

[edDV]

I got this message (for 2x unlimited DVD+streaming). Need to decide by Sept1 but either Netflix or Comcast can expect a plan cancel. Looking at that Amazon $79/yr.

We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.

Your current $14.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 2 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $11.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $19.98 a month ($7.99 + $11.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.

You can easily change or cancel your unlimited streaming plan, unlimited DVD plan, or both, by going to theplan change page in Your Account.

We realize you have many choices for home entertainment, and we thank you for your business. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-888-357-1516.

–The Netflix Team

I will call them Aug 31 and be willing to cancel any or all.

[edDV]

I'm not sure what I'll do yet. I certainly stream a lot more than I rent, but I still rent at least one a month. Guess I'll see if there are any alternatives I can use. Amazon looks promising, but I don't have any devices on my TV that can stream it, and not sure if I want to invest in any at this time.

Hmm I think we should explore Amazon or others as an alternative.

It is fully supported on my Blu-Ray player (a Sony BDP-BX37). Is there a PC stream?

Time for AMZN-NFLX war to the finish.

Note to Netflix, I wouldn't bother with Amazon if I didn't get that letter.

I may end up I choose canceling Netflix streaming for Amazon.

[wulf109]

I didn't get an email.so I checked my account and my price will increase to $28 next month. I rarely steam so I cancelled streaming so my new rate will be $20 which is my current cost.
It just dawned on me that this would have been a 40% increase in price.from $20 to $28.

[budz]

Yup, I'm gonna cancel the streaming as well. I'm lucky if I stream once a month. Freaking Netflix CEO so greedy. My monthly will now only cost $14.99 with 2 dvd rentals at a time includes bluray. IMHO their choices of movies for streaming isn't the greatest. They also don't have much time left with certain movie studios so I can see those contracts will probably not be renewed.

[MJA]

crap.I need streaming for the kids,and dvd's for the damn shows they don't have available yet for streaming like most of the shows from 70's and 80's (threes company is one of them)

[marioval]

Does anyone know if Sony plans to add any other native apps for streaming via the PS3? Right now it seems that netflix is the only one?

[edDV]

Not sure about the PS3 but the Sony Blu-Ray players currently support

Netflix
Amazon
Hulu Plus
Qriocity (Sony's own VOD service)

[fooledagain]

As soon as I started seeing stories about people "cutting the cord" with cable and getting tv via streaming and Netflix, I knew a price hike was coming. I think that Netflix may be making a mistake with such a dramatic change since a lot of people are dealing with band width limits and higher priced data plans. I'll switch to DVD only for the selection and get streaming via Amazon for new releases. The Man will always get your money.

[cal_tony]

Plan changes seem to be okay to me. Since I really don't stream, I'll drop( I already did drop) the streaming and my pricing will go down effective 8-1-11.

Tony

[handyguy]

But they didn't say why this is happening. They should.

Find Netflix on Facebook & you can talk about it there with them cause they have like 8000 messages about it.

Netflix is going to caption 80% of it's streaming & new boxes this summer should support that, Xbox, Roku, but some do now, Wii, PS3, etc.

[MJA]

Now our members have a choice

where is the freak'n choice?

Verizon,and AT@T used the same line when both killed the unlimited data

[Des]

Now our members have a choice

where is the freak'n choice?

Verizon,and AT@T used the same line when both killed the unlimited data

I guess the choice here is that you can divorce your streaming plan from your mail out plan.
I like to have both so the choice from my point of view becomes a different matter.

--dES

[Backpain]

The cost of everything is going up again, including getting screwed.

[TBoneit]

from what I saw if you had a 8 DVD/BluRay out at a time + streaming now your new price would be a reduction.

My guess is that the ones impacted by this will mainly be the ones with one or two dvd plans currently. I will also guess they are the ones using the most streaming bandwidth.

I'm making that guess because if you are on a 8 DVD at a time plan most of your watching is from DVD.
I prefer to play from DVD as the FF or Frev on streaming is poor not to mention chapters on DVD/BluRay.

Found it.

"Your current $64.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray access) will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray), 8 out at-a-time (no streaming)
for $52.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $60.98 a month ($7.99 + $52.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011."

[Seeker47]

I got this message (for 2x unlimited DVD+streaming). Need to decide by Sept1 but either Netflix or Comcast can expect a plan cancel. Looking at that Amazon $79/yr.

And what does Amazon offer for that price ? How deep or extensive is their library ? Not a week goes by that I don't come up with a few titles of interest to me that Netflix does not have. Still, my impression has been that they provide a much wider selection than the competition.

. . .
We realize you have many choices for home entertainment, and we thank you for your business. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-888-357-1516.

–The Netflix Team

I will call them Aug 31 and be willing to cancel any or all.

One thing we and a whole lot of other customers need to do is contact them and complain about this, even if we don't immediately decide to vote by walking out. Who knows ? Enough resistance might just make an impression.

[Farscape1]

well for me, netflix prices are going down....significantly. i'm on the 8-BD/DVD plan and i don't use the streaming option. so i'll get a $17.00 a month reduction per month! yea for me!

so i guess it's a matter of perspective.

[V Bot]

I'll say "Forget You" and cancel my Netflix. They have some of my money, they can't have my b@lls.

[budwzr]

$8 a month for unlimited streaming? And no commercials? I'd still call that a bargain.

Sony, or anyone else, can withhold their media for now, but they're gonna end up with the blueballs.

[MJA]

Give them 6 months to a year before that "bargain" goes up to $15.99

[edDV]

The price increases hit the mailed DVD plans this time.

[orsetto]

I can't believe all the surprised anger over this. What, did people think the "below-NetFlix-actual-costs" rate plan was going to last forever? Did nobody realize NetFlix is nothing but another smoke & mirrors BS tech stock thats been running on fumes and ridiculous pie-in-the-sky investor fantasies for years? Well, the Wall Street party is over and these companies are now being more closely scrutinized, i.e, expected to turn a significant and predictable profit. Not 20 years from now when we live in some free broadband Utopia, but today when the economy is in the friggin toilet without a prayer of recovering. So the rate plan has been adjusted to reflect real world costs and guarantee institutional stockholder returns. It sucks, but its still relatively reasonable compared to many alternatives (try pricing a cable plan that includes the VOD feature: make sure you have a shot of Jamison handy when you do).

Note their veiled admission that the streaming business model was premature and will be for quite some time yet: physical discs are roaring back as net providers enforce bandwidth limits. And remember, when NetFlix single-handedly destroyed all the video rental stores including Blockbuster, they pretty much killed Hollywood's golden goose. The studios were cooperative when they thought NetFlix would pull off the streaming transition, but now thats in the tank Hollywood wants the easy revenue they "lost" from those video stores- and they will gouge it from NetFlix, who will pass the cost on to us. There never has been and never will be a home video "bargain" that lasts longer than a marketing test period: Hollywood's power is weaker than it was in its '80s heyday but its far from dead.

[MOVIEGEEK]

The Epix deal that Netflix signed was a fiasco($1 billion over five years), it was only a matter of time before they passed the cost on to us consumers.

As for Amazon Prime: I tried it for one month as a free trial and wasn't impressed, mostly redundant shows that Netflix has and I don't order that much from Amazon to make it worth my money.

[V Bot]

Blockbuster should strike back and offer a low price plan. Redbox should start streaming.

[budwzr]

The price increases hit the mailed DVD plans this time.

Probably RedBox is siphoning off some business.

I'm too lazy to go to a rental place TWICE and still no guarantee the rentals are any good. Too many stinker movies now.

With streaming, I zap the stinkers right away and move on to the next show without getting up even to change a disc.

[budz]

wait till SONY and other movie studios decide to not wanna renew their contracts with Netflix.....I wouldn't doubt that SONY will keep their movies strictly to be live streamed via their bluray players and PS3......i cancelled the streaming which i hardly used anyway.....wait till TWC Roadrunner begins capping bandwidth as well....they're already looking into this because they're just as greedy......