As Netflix evolves from a library of established titles to a hub of diverse original content, so too will its subscription price. AP reports that the price hike, which will impact all new subscribers immediately, is the company’s largest since it first launched more than a decade ago. Damn you, Friends.
Simultaneous HD streaming on up to two different devices will see its monthly rate rise from $11 to $13, for example. If you’d like to stream 4K content on up to four different devices simultaneously, you’ll now be paying $16 instead of $14. The basic, HD-less plan, meanwhile, will rise by only a dollar, going from $8 to $9. Current subscribers will see their rate rise sometime in the next few months.
The price hike is presumably one of necessity. With Disney+ on the horizon, Netflix will see a good chunk of its non-original content swallowed by the streamer. Its library will thin out that much more when WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal launch their competing streamers, which will horde plenty of their own properties. It makes sense, then, for the company to fully lean into its ever-expanding slate of original content, which includes zeitgeisty titles like Stranger Things, Orange Is The New Black, The Crown, and Bird Box, which y’all just will not stop memeing. Another big win for the company is its stake in Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, a Golden Globe winner and Oscar hopeful.
The “arms race” is on, friends.