Netflix Announces Latest Price Increases

Most popular plan will cost 10% more
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 5, 2017 12:10 PM CDT
Netflix Announces Latest Price Increases
This Jan. 29, 2010, file photo shows the company logo and view of Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Netflix is raising the price for its most popular US video streaming plan by 10%— a move that could boost its profits but slow the subscriber growth that drives its stock price, the AP reports. The change announced Thursday affects most of Netflix's 53 million US subscribers. Netflix will now charge $11 per month instead of $10 for a plan that includes HD and allows subscribers to simultaneously watch programs on two different internet-connected devices. The price for another plan that includes ultra-high-definition, or 4K, video, is going up by 17%, to $14 from $12 a month; that plan allows subscribers to watch simultaneously on four devices, per the Verge. A plan that limits subscribers to one screen at a time without high definition will remain at $8 a month.

The increase would be the first in two years for Netflix, although it won't seem that way for millions of subscribers. That's because Netflix temporarily froze its rates for longtime subscribers the last two times it raised its prices, delaying the most recent increases until the second half of last year for them. Netflix isn't giving anyone a break this time around. It will start emailing notifications about the new prices to affected subscribers Oct. 19, giving them 30 days to accept the higher rates, switch to a cheaper plan, or cancel the service. The price increases are being driven by Netflix's desire to fatten its profit margins as it spends more money to finance a critically acclaimed slate of original programming; Netflix landed more Emmy award nominations than any TV network besides HBO this year. (More Netflix stories.)

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