A few weekends ago I was looking for a (hopefully great) movie to watch online. My first destination was Netflix, but I was quickly reminded of the recent removal of Sony titles, a collection which was among its best available. After looking through what Netflix actually does have available, I decided to move on to greener pastures—The Last Song and Vanishing on 7th Street aren’t exactly my cup of tea. I had to resort to rentals from iTunes and a streamed DVD from Zediva (the latter of which exceeded my expectations). The idea of unsubscribing from Netflix ran through my mind, but I quickly brushed it away. Do I really want to forfeit my commercial-free access to Arrested Development?
This past weekend I found myself in the same situation, and once again ended up renting a movie from iTunes. This time around, I considered more seriously the idea of unsubscribing from Netflix. As many have pointed out before, Amazon Prime’s subscription is cheaper than the yearly cost of the current $7.99/month streaming-only plan on Netflix, and its movie selection is arguably superior. But I am a loyal customer, and for a second time talked myself out of it.
But then there was yesterday’s dreadful announcement: Netflix is once again increasing its subscription prices. Netflix posted on their blog that they will now have DVD-only plans—“offering [their] lowest prices ever” at $7.99/month for one DVD and $11.99/month for two—and instead of customers having unlimited streaming and one DVD at a time for $9.99, they will now have to pay almost twice as much for such a plan, priced at $15.98 starting in September.
The price increase is not as drastic for those with plans that offer more than one DVD at a time, but it is still significant. I’ve had the 3 DVD plan since I started subscribing to Netflix three years ago—one which can definitely be downgraded to two, even one DVDs—and starting in September, I will have to pay $23.98, up from the current $19.99.
What’s most upsetting of this whole situation is that it was only seven months ago that we experienced a price increase—my plan went from $16.99 to $19.99. In less than a year, my Netflix costs will have increased by over 40%, while others will experience an even greater increase. At the time, the first price hike seemed justifiable given its expansion of streaming content—earlier in the year Netflix had signed a deal with Epix, and shortly after the new price announcement there was the addition of ABC and CBS shows.
However the timing for yesterday’s news was not ideal, arriving only weeks after the removal of Sony titles. According to Interpret’s New Media Measure™, the majority of Netflix streamers (58%) have streamed a current movie in the past 3 months, so the loss of Sony movies, several of which are recent releases, is especially damaging. Were there any news or rumors of new streaming content deals, or even renegotiations to get back the Sony titles, consumers would be less weary of having to spend more on their subscriptions. Many understand the costs of content—if there are more movies made available on Netflix, I would be more than willing to pay the new price. Unless we see new content added to its library, I will not be talking myself out of unsubscribing for a third time.