Good news! Netflix wants more money for its films and TV shows, as subscription prices take a notable hike in the US.
You don’t have to think back very far to remember when the monthly subscription cost for a streaming service appeared to be on the economic side. Over the course of the last few years, as streamers have been spending on bigger and bigger productions, inevitably it’s the end customer that has to foot the bill. Sooner or later, it was always going to be so.
Over in the US then, Netflix revealed last week that it will “occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix”. The last time it did this was October 2023, and new pricing will take effect in the US over the coming weeks.
The cost of the ad-supported tier in America is going from $6.99 to $7.99 a month. The standard tier without ads is getting a heftier hit, up from $15.49 to $17.99. And the premium tier goes from $22.99 to $24.99.
This comes as the company confirms that it’s added around 19 million subscribers in the last quarter of last year. Furthermore, that Squid Game season two proved to be a big hit. And then the pretty forgettable Back In Action movie, launched last week, has been the most viewed English language film debut on Netflix since The Adam Project in 2022. In Ryan Lambie’s preview, he pretty much predicted as much, but he won’t be getting a bonus biscuit for getting that right.
There’s been no news to date as to whether these price rises will be impacting the UK, but will be offering no biscuits to those who predict it will.
Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has added that “When you’re going to ask for a price increase you better make sure you have the goods and the engagement to back it up, and I feel like what we have going into 2025 is just that”.
The $320m Russo brothers film The Electric State, with its expensive wigs, arrives in March.
