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

[ManW_TheUncool]

In great effort to make nice w/ all their customers possibly while mulling over yet another potential round of price increases (and/or whatever other mega-losses-reducing, corner-cutting changes) for the new year should nobody like this idea (and actually "transfer"), NetFlix just released this wonderful new feature for our best interest and enjoyment, LOL...

_Man_

PS: Yes, "Sharpay Evans" as the name for my profile is my son's mildly twisted sense of humor at play (and it changes every now and then on me), LOL.

PPS: Not sure why many of the image/formatting items didn't (quite) translate via copy-and-paste, but nothing all that important is amiss for the quotation...

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​ ​ ​ Do you want to allow profile transfers?​ Hi Sharpay Evans,​ We added a new feature that lets anyone using your account keep all the things they love about Netflix if they create a new account.​ ​ ​ ​ People move. Families grow. Relationships change.​ Now people on your account can transfer a profile – including recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, settings and more – to their own membership that they pay for. Learn More.​ ​ ​ ​ ​ This is a feature for other people using your Netflix​ Allowing this feature will not sign out other devices on your account or block anyone from using your Netflix.​ There is no charge for allowing this feature, and we will never transfer your payment information to the new account. Kids profiles and PIN-protected profiles cannot be transferred.​ ​ ​ ​ ​ You’re in control​ Simply click the button below to turn on this feature and instantly allow profiles to be transferred from your account. You can always turn off profile transfers on your account settings page. This feature will automatically be disabled for your account in two years.​ ​ Allow Transfers​ ​ We're here to help if you need it. Visit the Help Center for more info or contact us.​ The Netflix team​ ​

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

On the plus side, they're at least trying different things (and this probably does help a few customers I suppose) and not going w/ a brute force approach or jumping straight to the next clearly negative-for-the-customer option, LOL...

On the downside, wonder how much this new feature cost them to implement (and deploy, bug-fix, etc), and whether it actually nets them a positive (enough) return...

_Man_

 

[Chris Will]

I still don't understand what changes they are making. Are they taking profiles away, so my kids wife have to create their own accounts? Can I watch at work, on my phone and when we visit my parents house anymore?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I still don't understand what changes they are making. Are they taking profiles away, so my kids wife have to create their own accounts? Can I watch at work, on my phone and when we visit my parents house anymore?

If I’m reading it right, it allows sub-users on an account to split their profile into a new account if they want and keep all of their settings - so let’s say someone breaks up with their spouse, the spouse can turn their profile into a new account and keep their lists instead of starting from scratch.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Basically, they're trying to (encourage and) make it as easy and painless as possible for existing subscribers to create new accounts/subscriptions (and of course, pay additionally/separately for those new, separate accounts/subscriptions), which is of course good for their bottomline (and something they've been hoping to get more people to do and have smaller percentage of their customer base be sharing subscriptions quite as much as before).

And yes, there would certainly be some instances where that's desirable/helpful (as Josh noted... and also gently touched on by the Netflix announcement), particular given the unfortunate aftermath of the pandemic (however loosely related or not)...

Sorry if I confused things for some w/ my earlier, somewhat sarcastic commentary...

_Man_

 

[Alex...]

Heads up. Netflix might be raising prices this year.

Netflix Expected to Raise Prices... Again

Market analysts think that Netflix's strong market position means they can get away with raising [...]

comicbook.com

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Heads up. Netflix might be raising prices this year.

Netflix Expected to Raise Prices... Again

Market analysts think that Netflix's strong market position means they can get away with raising [...]

comicbook.com

Really? It seems like they raise prices every 6 months. All they do is raise their prices which is the reason I walked away from them a long time ago.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Heads up. Netflix might be raising prices this year.

Netflix Expected to Raise Prices... Again

Market analysts think that Netflix's strong market position means they can get away with raising [...]

comicbook.com

Pricing across all streaming services will continue to rise as long as these companies keep paying exorbitant pricing for new programming.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Pricing across all streaming services will continue to rise as long as these companies keep paying exorbitant pricing for new programming.

This is also how they push many subscribers into switching to their cheaper ad-supported tier, where they can potentially bring in even more revenue per subscriber than what the premium tier pays. The more ad-supported subscribers a service has, the more the service can charge advertisers. It's not all that different than what broadcast networks have been doing for decades.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

It's not all that different than what broadcast networks have been doing for decades.

So make Netflix FAST and call it a day.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Even those who subscribe to Netflix though a third party, such as their cell phone provider, are getting hit with these rate increases. T-Mobile now only comps the ad-supported tier of Netflix to their customers, charging them the difference for whatever tier they prefer to have. For example, I was paying T-Mobile an extra $9 per month for Netflix Premium until this last billing cycle. Now I'm paying $16 per month.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This just sort of always reinforces my belief that in the age of subscription streaming, it doesn’t make sense to identify with any particular service the way, in the era of peak cable, people would consider themselves to be an “HBO household” or a “Showtime household”. I think the legacy of those days is such that for many streaming subscribers, they think of a service as something they have to have indefinitely/in perpetuity. But it’s no longer the days of old, and there’s no longer the arduous process of calling your cable company, asking to subscribe to HBO, paying an installation fee, committing to a year of service, having to have a technician come to adjust something on the pole and then needing to get a new cable box. I think a lot of subscription streaming subscribers add a service and they’re still in that mindset. For me, I find it much more useful to subscribe to a service when it has an offering that I’m interested in, and then unsubscribe when that offering has reached its end. The price increases are less bothersome to me on a mental level when I’m actually using what I’m paying for - it only really bothers me if we have a subscription going for no clear reason. But I’m also the kind of viewer that doesn’t make decisions based on what service I have; I don’t go, “Since we have Netflix, let me find something on there acceptable to watch.” If there’s nothing on there I’m watching currently, I turn off the renewal until they have something I want to see.

 

[Malcolm R]

If they raise again, I'm going to have to cancel. I don't seem to watch Netflix that often and there's really nothing that's "must see". Lots of stuff on my "watch list", but nothing that keeps me watching on any regular basis.

 

[John Dirk]

This is also how they push many subscribers into switching to their cheaper ad-supported tier, where they can potentially bring in even more revenue per subscriber than what the premium tier pays. The more ad-supported subscribers a service has, the more the service can charge advertisers. It's not all that different than what broadcast networks have been doing for decades.

That's an excellent point, Todd, and also a scary one.

Netflix has a lot of older content I like, so I haven't minded paying for it in the past but it's starting to become a pricey line item. I suspect the recent increases are mostly subsidizing newer content like comedy specials, which are of little interest to me, so I don't want to pay extra for that stuff. Netflix has been a great pioneer of the streaming platform and I believe we've all benefited. That said, I also believe their current business model is unsustainable.

Kanopy doesn't have as much contemporary or popular content as Netflix but there's a wealth of obscure and educational content there and it's absolutely free with a library card in most areas.

 

[dpippel]

If they raise prices again so soon, it'll be time for me to ditch Netflix. And, if this trend continues, I'll be doing month-long subscriptions then canceling for several months before I renew again, for ALL of my streaming services. That is until they start requiring annual subs, which I fear is on the horizon.

They're shooting themselves in their collective feet as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Desslar]

Netflix has a lot of older content I like, so I haven't minded paying for it in the past but it's starting to become a pricey line item.

Interesting. I am thinking of cancelling because to my view they don't have much older content. The last time I looked for 80s TV dramas all they had was Highway to Heaven and Star Trek The Next Generation. I've now seen way more of Highway to Heaven than I ever wanted to.

 

[Todd Erwin]

If they do raise prices again this year, and T-Mo follows suit, I'll probably drop down a tier or two, and if I find we are not watching it all that much, I may just drop down to whatever tier T-Mo is comping.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That is until they start requiring annual subs, which I fear is on the horizon.

Never say never but I think they know they’d be leaving too much on the table with that. I think if they decide to do something like that, rather than taking away the month to month option, that they’d just widen the disparity between the yearly price and the monthly price. The average service gives you a year for the price of ten months when subscribing that way; they could just raise the monthly price while leaving the yearly price in place. For nearly every service I use, even if they did raise the monthly, that’s still the better deal for me.

 

[dpippel]

Never say never but I think they know they’d be leaving too much on the table with that. I think if they decide to do something like that, rather than taking away the month to month option, that they’d just widen the disparity between the yearly price and the monthly price. The average service gives you a year for the price of ten months when subscribing that way; they could just raise the monthly price while leaving the yearly price in place. For nearly every service I use, even if they did raise the monthly, that’s still the better deal for me.

You make some good points Josh, but I've learned to never underestimate the stupidity, for lack of a better word, of this industry or their generally terrible history of treating customers right. The recent fiasco we witnessed with Amazon and the rollout of ad-supported Prime is a, well, prime example.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Never say never but I think they know they’d be leaving too much on the table with that. I think if they decide to do something like that, rather than taking away the month to month option, that they’d just widen the disparity between the yearly price and the monthly price. The average service gives you a year for the price of ten months when subscribing that way; they could just raise the monthly price while leaving the yearly price in place. For nearly every service I use, even if they did raise the monthly, that’s still the better deal for me.

They might not get rid of month-to-month for ad-free/premium tiers too soon, if at all, but perhaps, just do that for ad-supported tier instead.

Seems like the vast majority of people who would do ad-supported may also be much more likely to go for (modestly?) discounted annual plans or simply not cancel, if they're doing month-to-month... while the dwindling, remaining people who (strongly) prefer ad-free/premium tiers are more likely to balk and might become small enough group for them to hopefully just leave us alone instead -- many/most platforms/services seem to already be steering away from offering discounted annual plans for the ad-free/premium tiers, which would fit w/ that...

_Man_