Netflix going to $19.99 a month

[Eric]

I've been onboard with all of their price changes all along but this time I'm questioning whether or not it's worth it at this price, IMO their content has slipped, the quality of original content isn't that great and I often struggle to find anything to watch. Not to mention the competition has gotten pretty stiff of the last couple of years. I honestly may drop over this one.

 

[DT]

Someone else had a post about this, I think in the TV thread, but I'm 98% sure my response will be to drop from the 4K service back to the HD level. Part of the 4K price is for additional concurrent streams which we don't use anyway.

Right now, it's $17.99 for 4K/4 screens (our current plan), and $13.99 for HD/2 screens. So we'll move to HD for $15.49, vs. the price increased 4K, and our net savings will be $4.50, and the silliest thing, this will result if them making less money off us than they are now (i.e., $17.99 vs. $15.49) I read comments about a lot of people planning the same, though I'm sure these people/us, won't lose as much them as much money as the ~$2.50 price hike on HD will generate.

 

[User.168]

.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

I grew fond of Netflix over time. BUT, lately they follow the practice of HBO, i.e. episodes on weekly basis. And that is what I hate from the bottom of my heart. It reminds me of my childhood.

 

[tobefirst]

I was pretty impressed with their Super Bowl commercial touting the new release movies they will have each week. The names associated with streaming titles is now pretty much on par with theater releases. We share a plan with my wife's family, and while it wouldn't be worth it to me if it were just us, in return we get access to a bunch of other services, so we'll keep paying.

 

[DT]

Geez, I was just looking at our account, "Member Since December 2001"

I did see the message, the price increase is hitting us March 13th.

 

[Eric]

I grew fond of Netflix over time. BUT, lately they follow the practice of HBO, i.e. episodes on weekly basis. And that is what I hate from the bottom of my heart. It reminds me of my childhood.

Agreed, not a fan of that but I can deal with it if the quality of the content is good and on Netflix it's gotten just terrible. When it comes to original content they have low quality shows and bad movies at best now making it hard to justify the cost. HBO on the other hand has fantastic programming for the most part and I look forward to the weekly episodes and I don't mind paying for it.

 

[Joe]

I’ll keep it for now. It’s really the only streaming service I pay for so $20 isn’t too bad.

 

[tobefirst]

Agreed, not a fan of that but I can deal with it if the quality of the content is good and on Netflix it's gotten just terrible. When it comes to original content they have low quality shows and bad movies at best now making it hard to justify the cost. HBO on the other hand has fantastic programming for the most part and I look forward to the weekly episodes and I don't mind paying for it.

Hold on a minute. Out of all the streaming services we have access to, I admit that Netflix would be my personal choice for first to go, but this statement just isn't true, at least by somewhat objective measures. They have killed it at major award ceremony presentations in both nominations and wins the last couple/few years. Their shows may not be your taste (or mine, for that matter), but that doesn't mean they aren't putting out good/great stuff.

List of accolades received by Netflix - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Eric]

Hold on a minute. Out of all the streaming services we have access to, I admit that Netflix would be my personal choice for first to go, but this statement just isn't true, at least by somewhat objective measures. They have killed it at major award ceremony presentations in both nominations and wins the last couple/few years. Their shows may not be your taste (or mine, for that matter), but that doesn't mean they aren't putting out good/great stuff.

List of accolades received by Netflix - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Sure, I'll give you that and some of those shows I've really enjoyed over the years. It's just that they are far and few between lately, nearly all the shows or movies that revolve around their top 10 list on an ongoing basis are pretty bad for the most part. Quality seems to have taken a back seat to quantity.

 

[Runs For Fun]

We cancelled ours a while ago mostly because the quality and variety of their content has gone down the drain the last few years.

 

[tobefirst]

My favorite new Netflix series: Murderville. It was a bit uneven – the comics definitely are more engaging than the others – but a fun premise and lots of laugh out loud moments.

 

[DT]

Part of the problem is the really good shows are scattered all over different services. The shows we really have interest in are on: HBOMax, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, and that's serialized type content, there's several other things we watch on Food Network, Peacock, Amazon, etc.

 

[ronntaylor]

We get a partial discount via our T-Mobile family account, so probably staying with it. Also have HBO Max and Prime. The latter we would love to get rid of yesterday. Especially since we won't be using it for our Virginia apartment for a good chunk of the year.

Still can't believe the transformation of Netflix. My twin and I were early customers of their ship-to-home DVD service. We were rabid movie watchers. Had family and friends come over to watch on our big screen TV. Then we started getting lax. Different work schedules saw us holding on to a DVD for a week or more. It became a pain when we could go to the Blockbuster 7-10 minutes away.

 

[Joe]

I always find good shows on Netflix. I'm more likely to cancel my Amazon Prime later this year when my subscription ends.

 

[SuperMatt]

Part of the problem is the really good shows are scattered all over different services. The shows we really have interest in are on: HBOMax, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, and that's serialized type content, there's several other things we watch on Food Network, Peacock, Amazon, etc.

With all the content splitting between dozens of various streaming services, give it a few years and people will go back to Cable TV so they don’t have to keep track of all the separate subscriptions. So much for cord-cutting!

 

[DT]

With all the content splitting between dozens of various streaming services, give it a few years and people will go back to Cable TV so they don’t have to keep track of all the separate subscriptions. So much for cord-cutting!

It's definitely easy to get back to the same price (pre/post cutting-of-the-cord). The big advantages with internet based services: 1) You can use your own equipment, 2) You can sub/unsub on the fly (without interaction with a CSR, without on hold, it's < 60 seconds for most services, right from your browser).

 

[shadow puppet]

$19.99?!! Nope.
I'll add them to my a la carte streaming rotation, binge for a month then drop until it's worth it for me to binge again.

EDIT: Ah, didn't realize the $19.99 is for premium. I don't use that service so can hang with Netflix a bit longer.

 

[Eric]

Part of the problem is the really good shows are scattered all over different services. The shows we really have interest in are on: HBOMax, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, and that's serialized type content, there's several other things we watch on Food Network, Peacock, Amazon, etc.

Have you tried out Discovery+ yet? They have the Food Network and tons of other programming from all their networks and for less than $10 a month you get everything ad free, I would gladly pay twice that, it's an excellent service.

 

[Edd]

The worst part of this is it’ll likely encourage HBO to raise their rate sooner than later.