Netflix Netflix (once again) Raises All Subscription Plans in U.S. (1 Viewer)

[John Dirk]

I loved RUSSIAN DOLL and also hope a second season is a reality. Love that actress.

Same here, great limited series! Natasha Lyonne is her name. She was also one of the main characters on Orange Is The New Black although I felt her range was severely limited by the plot of that particular show and it's deference to lead actress Taylor Schilling.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Same here, great limited series! Natasha Lyonne is her name. She was also one of the main characters on Orange Is The New Black although I felt her range was severely limited by the plot of that particular show and it's deference to lead actress Taylor Schilling.

Yes! Watched that entire series. She was great in it!

 

[Edwin-S]

I would find constantly canceling and re-subscribing to be nothing but a hassle. I know if I did that that any shows of interest to me would eventually be less of a hassle to stop watching than constantly having to keep track of when they were showing up in order to resubscribe.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I would find constantly canceling and re-subscribing to be nothing but a hassle. I know if I did that that any shows of interest to me would eventually be less of a hassle to stop watching than constantly having to keep track of when they were showing up in order to resubscribe.

Whether this is feasible will probably vary depending on the individuals.

Generally, I wouldn't expect non-enthusiasts to be able to bother w/ that all that much, but since we're all basically enthusiasts here (if we're bothering to read/comment), then many of us could probably do that just fine.

Certainly, I'd think if you follow the various threads about various shows and such, then it's likely no big deal to make use of such info you already come across...

But yeah, non-enthusiasts like family we have would certainly be different... which is why I'll probably end up just dropping our subscription down to the middle tier for now instead of canceling/reactivating from time to time because my family doesn't want to bother w/ that -- I might eventually drop it down to the cheapest $10 plan mainly just for the wife and one kid to share on their mobile devices (and then maybe bump it back up only for a month or two each year when I want to binge on some stuff, especially in 4K/HDR)...

I'm probably also keeping Criterion Channel and Disney+ all year for foreseeable future... but those are much cheaper plus have more content I'd want to see year-round (and Criterion Channel also offers some additional perks like occasional $10 GCs)...

_Man_

 

[TonyD]

I would find constantly canceling and re-subscribing to be nothing but a hassle. I know if I did that that any shows of interest to me would eventually be less of a hassle to stop watching than constantly having to keep track of when they were showing up in order to resubscribe.

It’s pretty easy, barely an inconvenience.

Just a couple of clicks.

 

[David Weicker]

It’s pretty easy, barely an inconvenience.

Just a couple of clicks.

I don't think he's referring to the actual act of subscribing/re-subscribing. But the additional effort required to know when to subscribe/unsubscribe/re-subscribe.

Given the absolute randomness of scheduling, there is effort involved. If you have to re-subscribe (and incur the monthly charge) just to sample something to see if you might like it, that is a hassle.

 

[TonyD]

It’s simple enough.
Doesn’t matter when in the month you cancel you still get the full month.

It’s the easiest thing to do.
If it’s that difficult to figure out then I don’t know what to say to that.

I don’t do it based on what’s on NF I do it based on how often I want to pay.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I think for regular folks who don't already check/follow info on shows/content, they could probably just choose some arbitrary times of the year to reactivate for a month or two to catch up and binge on whatever. They just wouldn't be able to reactivate as soon as what they like gets released is all, if they don't often follow/check such info...

Still, some (like my wife) just don't wanna think about it at all and/or may simply not want to make any effort (and most/all the services do typically require you to navigate to their websites to cancel/reactivate, which typically cannot be done via their mobile/streaming apps), so...

_Man_

 

[bmasters9]

I dumped Netflix a few years back after they started dropping a lot of the old classic TV shows I liked and started concentrating on "original content" I could care less about.

What made Netflix favor originals over the classics we grew up with?

 

[sleroi]

I recently subscribed to peacock just to watch Macgruber. (Not sure it was even worth the 4.99, but thats for another thread.)

I subscribed one day, unsubscribed the next day so I wouldnt have to try and remember when my renewal date was, and even though i cancelled the next day the subacription still lasted 30 days.

Its really simple.

 

[Edwin-S]

What made Netflix favor originals over the classics we grew up with?

They had to have realized that competition was coming to the space they were occupying and that relying on content owned by others would be an eventual death sentence. A lot of the content they were showing was licensed from others and those others, such as Disney, would be setting up their own competing services.

NF needed their own content to remain relevant and competitive. Disney setting up D+ and yanking all of their content from NF only proved that they were right to start concentrating on creating their own content.

 

[John Dirk]

It’s simple enough.
Doesn’t matter when in the month you cancel you still get the full month.

It’s the easiest thing to do.
If it’s that difficult to figure out then I don’t know what to say to that.

I don’t do it based on what’s on NF I do it based on how often I want to pay.

Speaking for myself, it's not a matter of simplicity but one of convenience. I'm not going to spend my time babysitting a subscription service, at least not on a monthly basis. There's just too much content out there across various sources for that, much of it absolutely free. My problem is never finding something interesting to watch it's finding time to watch it.

 

[TonyD]

Babysitting subscriptions?
I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

Most services are a reasonable price per month so it’s not really an issue.

This is about NF raising the price to a price that’s much higher then almost every other service.
I guess if people don’t mind paying $20 + a month and about $250 a year then
that’s good for them.


It takes three minutes to log onto Netflix .com every few months or so and toggle it either on or off.
I’m not following how this is a problem.

Anyway. I don’t really have anything else to say on it.

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't think it's the process of subscribing/unsubscribing that most are talking about here. It's the time you'd have to spend to research what's on which service and when, in order to determine when you should be switching your subscriptions on and off.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I guess I just don’t watch that much stuff, or I’m more focused on watching specific things rather than looking for what’s available on something I already have.

HBO Max had the new Matrix movie I wanted to see, so I subscribed for that and since I only subscribed for that, I canceled the subscription immediately.

Paramount+ has new Star Trek, when the season ends if there isn’t another Trek show starting immediately, I cancel.

I was watching For All Mankind on Apple+, when the season ended, I canceled.

I’m loyal to content I watch not platforms so I tend to just go where the things I want to see are. I’m not the kind of viewer that thinks, “I’m paying for Netflix so let’s pick something to watch based on what choices Netflix has”.

 

[John Dirk]

Babysitting subscriptions?
I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

Keeping track of shows of interest and managing subscriptions accordingly.

t takes three minutes to log onto Netflix .com every few months or so and toggle it either on or off.
I’m not following how this is a problem.

For you it clearly isn't, which is perfectly fine. Others [myself included} choose not to play along.

Anyway. I don’t really have anything else to say on it.

I honestly don't understand your tone here. "Different strokes for different folks" has been around for a long time now. We all do what works for us.

 

[DaveF]

HBO Max had the new Matrix movie I wanted to see, so I subscribed for that and since I only subscribed for that, I canceled the subscription immediately.

You don’t use the remaining 30 days you’ve paid for in the subscribed month to watch other interesting shows while you’ve got the service?

You treat it like a movie ticket: pay $15 to watch Movie of Interest, and then cancel and move on?

 

[John Dirk]

I’m not the kind of viewer that thinks, “I’m paying for Netflix so let’s pick something to watch based on what choices Netflix has”.

I view a service from a more long-term perspective. "Does it have the type of content I generally like." I missed out on so many old and current TV shows over the years and find Netflix usually has them at some point. As an example, I'm currently burning through Grey's Anatomy [a show I would never have watched on TV with commercials, etc.] at a feverish pace since I can skip through the portions [and there are lots with this particular show] that don't interest me. If I went for a long enough stretch without finding something of interest I would cancel and not even reevaluate my choice for probably a year or so. As stated earlier though, with Netflix, it's currently included in my T-Mobile plan so I don't directly pay for it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

You don’t use the remaining 30 days you’ve paid for in the subscribed month to watch other interesting shows while you’ve got the service?

You treat it like a movie ticket: pay $15 to watch Movie of Interest, and then cancel and move on?

Let me put it this way: if there’s something that looks like something I might enjoy, I’ll try it out. Right now I’m watching the new James Gunn “Peacekeeper” show with John Cena and I’ve enjoyed the episodes aired enough that I’ll probably allow the subscription to run a second month to finish out the season.

But I won’t spend an hour scrolling aimlessly looking through HBO Max trying to find something just because I already have it. I won’t watch a movie or show I wasn’t interested in to begin with “just because it’s on”.

What I realized a few years ago was that I was watching tons of shows I didn’t much like or care for simply because we already had those services and the content was available, and I wanted to be out of that habit. Like Stranger Things. I didn’t care much for the first season but I watched it because I had Netflix. I watched the second season because I had Netflix. I watched the first episode of the third season and then said to myself, why am I doing this? I don’t like the show, it feels like a chore to watch, and just because it’s available on something I’m paying for isn’t reason enough to spend my time on it. I realized I was doing the same with most broadcast shows - watching them because they were on, not because they brought me joy.

I guess that’s the simplest way to put it - with more to watch than there are hours in the day, my time is the more precious commodity, so I’m looking more at what’s interesting to me rather than what each service is offering on its own.

 

[DaveF]

With HBO, I waited until I had a critical mass of shows-to-watch. Until something pushes me over the edge. I got HBO Christmas 2020 to watch WW84. And then watched Chernobyl (amazing) and Watchmen (also amazing) and Raised by Wolves (that was weird). And then canceled after a few months because I had a zillion other services and shows to watch.

And then again this winter, when I had a long list of shows to watch on HBO…and then Dune premiered. So I’ve got HBO now and am watching through shows of interest: Station 11, Hacks, Selena+Chef, White Lotus, In The Heights, Flight Attendant, and I’m sure some others I’m forgetting about.

Of all the things on HBO, the big one I haven’t had time for is…Matrix Evolutions. Maybe tomorrow?