Netflix ups prices of its most popular plans by $1 or $2
Netflix is raising its prices for the first time in two years, increasing the cost of its most popular plan by $1 to $10.99 monthly.
Subscribers of the $11.99 premium plan, which lets you run Netflix on four screens (instead of the standard plan’s two) and get 4K video, will see an increase of $2 to $13.99.
The price of the basic plan, which costs $7.99 monthly and delivers standard definition video to one screen, remains the same.
Netflix has begun raising prices for new U.S. subscribers and will begin increasing prices for current subscribers Oct. 19. The price increases take effect over the next several months, Netflix says. All subscribers will be notified at least 30 days in advance, based on their billing cycle.
“From time to time, Netflix plans and pricing are adjusted as we add more exclusive TV shows and movies, introduce new product features and improve the overall Netflix experience,” the streaming provider said in a statement.
Since Netflix’s last price increase in October 2015, its U.S. subscriber base has grown from 44.7 million to an expected 52.7 million at the end of September.
The Internet TV leader has also added a downloading feature for offline viewing and has in- creased its spending on original content to $6 billion this year.
When Netflix last increased its price — upping the standard plan from $8.99 to $9.99 — it slowly added the extra $1 to current subscribers over several months.
“If you look back over the last couple years, obviously, the content costs have escalated, and there’s a lot to be said about the program quality that they have added to the platform,” said Tuna Amobi, an equity analyst at investment research firm CFRA.