As was widely expected, Netflix is once again increasing the price of some of its plans. The company announced the changes in its third-quarter letter to shareholders.
Here’s the breakdown in the U.S.:
- Standard with Ads: Remains the same at $7 a month
- Standard: Remains the same at $15.49 a month
- Basic: This legacy plan is not available to new subscribers, but the price is still going up to $12 a month for those still on it. this plan limits subscribers to a single device at a time, and video is limited to standard definition.
- Premium: Going up from $20 a month to $23 a month.
The price increases come just as Netflix is about to stream its first live sporting event — The Netflix Cup, which pairs Formula 1 drivers with PGA Tour professionals at a nine-hole event ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.
Elsewhere in the world, price increases also will be seen in the U.K. and France.
More changes are coming to Netflix’s global subscribers, too. Like in the U.S., Netflix is ramping up the advertising plan and killing the Basic option in Germany, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Australia, and Brazil, starting next week.
Netflix also said that the shift toward paid sharing — that is, keeping you from sharing your account with someone who doesn’t actually live with you — has resulted in “low” numbers of cancellations, “exceeding our expectations.” That scheme allows accountholders to add on an additional household for $8 a month, or convert them into their own, full accounts.
Netflix ended the quarter with a total of 247.15 million paid subscriptions worldwide, up nearly 11% from the previous quarter.
And don’t be surprised if you see more reheated content on Netflix. Buoyed by the success of Suits — which Netflix says generated some 1 billion viewing hours globally — “we may have increased opportunities to license more hit titles to complement our original programming.” Netflix didn’t say what titles that may include, but it did point to the continued success of major series like Friends and The Office. (Not that Suits had anywhere near the success of those franchises on cable.)
