The streamer has already phased out the cheapest ad-free subscription option for new signups.

Netflix Hints at Price Increases, Plans to Retire Basic Service Amid Ad-Tier Growth::Netflix says subscriptions to its ad-supported service grew by 70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

    • nodsocket@lemmy.worldEnglish
      387·
      11 months ago

      I am a shareholder of Netflix. If they don’t make more profit this year the stock will go down and I will lose money.

      I use some of the income from my Netflix stock to pay for my Netflix subscription.

      Edit: looks like I just made 12% since this announcement came out!

      • 1984@lemmy.todayEnglish
        551·
        11 months ago

        True capitalism, the only thing that matters is if the stocks go up. More profits, all the time, or we call it a depression. Lol.

      • RGB3x3@lemmy.worldEnglish
        44·
        11 months ago

        I can’t tell if you’re trying to justify ever-increasing profits and screwing over customers.

        Your profits from stocks are nobody’s concern.

      • neclimdul@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        11 months ago

        I don’t know if there could have been a comment that sums up the problem. To this person Netflix is no longer a product; it’s not about the best content or the best experience anymore. It’s about getting your buck.

        Netflix used to have the best content online at the best price. It now has neither and I don’t know how anyone still rationalizes subscribing.

  • rando895@lemmy.mlEnglish
    53·
    11 months ago

    What I find interesting is it seems like we are again converging on the same service as cable. Which suggests that the best method of profiting off watching movies/tv at home is to have ad supported entertainment, with a monthly fee.

    Once again, the profit motive ruins something good .

  • escapedgoat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    39·
    11 months ago

    Netflix already costs over $185 a year. For that price I can rent 6 5k UHD movies a month at redbox and get much higher quality viewing. I can’t find 6 good things to watch any given month on Netflix. I might turn my membership back on for the final season of Cobra Kai or Stranger Things, but there’s just not much else that’s compelling me to spend that money.

  • WishbackJumpsta@lemmy.worldEnglish
    26·
    11 months ago

    Yeah, because its other plans are STUPIDLY expensive, their content and original shows don’t justify the price.

    • essteeyou@lemmy.worldEnglish
      39·
      11 months ago

      If everyone learned to “use the internet” and stopped paying then there would be nothing to pay for because nobody works for free.

      • CriticalMiss@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        11 months ago

        If everyone learned to use the internet then those companies would have to adapt in order to survive.

          • CriticalMiss@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            Because piracy isn’t a pricing issue, it’s a service issue. If people can get a better service for free, then that’s what they’re going to do. It’s the same reason people go to McDonalds, everyone can make a mid burger at home, but McDs has already done it and will sell it at a price some people will find reasonable. If I could go to Netflix, pay them whatever it costs right now and actually watch the content at a resolution I actually paid for and download to keep myself a copy for later (because again, I bought it) then I’d pay for Netflix. Seeing as that’s not the case and likely won’t be because people keep paying for Netflix, we’re stuck with the status quo.

            • essteeyou@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              11 months ago

              When you’re talking about downloading for later are you talking about while your Netflix subscription is active, or for after you terminate your subscription?

  • Vertelleus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    17·
    11 months ago

    I only had Netflix because it was free included with my T-Maybe account. They are switching it to the ad supported tier today as base, and a user has to pay extra for the non-ad supported tiers.

    My plan going forward is to watch the first episode with ads and if I like it I’ll search the high seas for the rest.

    The enshitification continues.

    • root@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5·
      11 months ago

      Once they changed it to paying that like $1 extra for the plan, I noped off TMobile. No use for it anymore when Google Fi is way cheaper for just 2 people. I just pirated everything anyways even when we had the subscription

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
    10·
    11 months ago

    We’ve really been weighing whether we use Netflix enough to justify the cost lately. Don’t push us, Netflix.

    • braxy29@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      11 months ago

      been free for two or three years. i haven’t missed a thing, as far as i can tell.

  • r00ty@kbin.life
    51·
    11 months ago

    Hahaha. If they remove the “basic” which I believe is standard since that’s the lowest I see. Only leaving the Premium option then I’m afraid I’m going to pull a full dragon’s den.

    I really did like Netflix, but they’re just getting greedy and trying to extract blood from stone now. And for that reason, I’ll be out should they remove the standard tier.

      • r00ty@kbin.life
        3·
        11 months ago

        Well, I’ve not been affected so far. But this will definitely be a huge hit to me and that will be it.

  • Tier 1 Build-A-Bear 🧸@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    Isn’t this like actually the 5th or 6th price hike in the last year? I already cancelled Netflix when they cracked down on password sharing but this just feels like they’re trying to lose customers

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    11·
    11 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Netflix says it had a second straight quarter of strong growth in its ad-supported tier, though the business is still in its infancy.

    The ad tier has gotten large enough, however, for the company to start retiring its cheapest ad-free option later this year.

    Co-CEO Greg Peters said on the company’s earnings call that the ad tier has 23 million monthly active users in the 12 countries where it offers the plans, and he expects that number to continue growing.

    Peters also noted that promotional bundles, à la wireless provider T-Mobile’s “Netflix on Us” deal, can help drive subscriber growth.

    It will retire the plan — currently the least expensive ad-free option at Netflix — for all subscribers in Canada and the U.K. in the spring “and tak[e] it from there,” the company says in its letter to shareholders.

    Netflix’s advertising team, led by Amy Reinhard, will have a lot more inventory to offer up in 2025, when it becomes the home of the WWE’s flagship program, Monday Night Raw.

    The original article contains 442 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 62%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!