Netflix raising rates on the sly.

praedet

Since we live in the middle of nowhere and the ISPs suck out here, the hike was a reason to drop streaming which was only good for TV shows (because of the ISPs) and switch to Blurays. Since we watch one every night and have two out at a time, the MOST we pay per disk is $1.50. So, it is cheaper than RedBox not even factoring in gas. They just made the decision about streaming for us.

As far as the uproar, they could have communicated with current customers better, as in "We raised the physical media price to this because of X, and priced the streaming different due to Y"

mystik610

evhudsons wrote: »

Netflix is the front runner in all streaming formats right now. If they raise prices, so will the others. They may have felt pressure to raise them from the competition. As strange as that sounds, it happens. For my little niche here, I constantly have my competition asking me to raise my rates so they can raise theirs too. Our company rules the roost, and whatever we do others do the same, even if they undercut us slightly. It's almost like price fixing, but not quite. I really wouldn't be surprised to see the others not raise their rates. I would be shocked if they don't.

While that may be the case in your industry, that clearly is not the case in Netflix's, as the increase in price has resulted in a loss of customers, and a decline in the projected growth of their customer base....which led to a decline in their stock prices.

Honestly right now, if someone were to offer a comparable or better service for cheaper, they could very easily steal a huge portion of Netflix's market share. The economics of Netflix's financial situation have proven that this is very much a price sensitive market-space.

You also have to consider that Netflix's competition is not limited to streaming services....they are competing with red box, cable and satellite providers (video on demand and broadcast providers), blockbuster, etc etc. Streaming is one of many methods of watching a movie at home....and there are too many substitutes out there for them to raise their prices without adding additional value to the services they're providing. Hell they are competing with other methods of keeping yourself entertained as a whole, including watching straight up television, reading a book, listening to music, etc etc etc.

exalted512

bobman1235 wrote: »

I have never encountered a title that Netflix could not provide to me in one of those mediums, and I challenge you to name a single one.

Transformers 4
-Cody

AsSiMiLaTeD

Evrythngmatters wrote: »

I'm all good there sport. Not another hit to my ego, HELL NO!! I don't think I can handle it. I just may have to quit audio and take up knitting now. Or, I may have to dye my hair black,get shorter,become fat,and have no life. Then I may be happy with Netflix.:rolleyes:

And just think, all this over NetFlix. What a day it is!! I love it.

You've got no clue...

evhudsons

I live on a little island, so the options are even less. I've never heard of red box. It sounds like you have done some looking into this, so I'm glad i'm more enlightened rather than just hearing ranting. That's a very interesting view that the other price increases led to lost customers, drop in value, and now making it up by charging more to the remaining customers. Whether we get angry or not, loyal or walk away, they may have simply made a large blunder in thinking we have to take what they give out. I know that youtube, hulu and others are tapping into the market. Pretty soon it will all be on your computer and may be even better quality than bluray at some point.
For me, Directv takes forever to load movies, and I can't rewind, only pause or spotty fast forward after pausing. Plus, in order to get a variety of movies you have to subscribe to all the paychannels like stars, which costs way more than simply having netflix.

I am not a firm loyal customer to any provider, including netflix. I simply want the best value that makes sense. I think Netflix carries pretty much anything in print or available in this country. For a long time you couldn't get Escape from New York, even after the Escape from LA came out. Now it's in print, and netflix has it. I primarily just watch Bluray, but sometimes dvd's if it is a good movie. I stream out of convenience only. I have to go on netflix, search movies I might like, then choose the ones that will stream because not all of them will. I do bluray for the rest. It is a hassle to some degree, but for now they are the best bang for the buck here.

SolidSqual

I changed my neflix plan to DVD rental Unlimited. It's $7.99 month and suits my needs perfectly. None of my Netflix content is really available on demand. Not to mention Hulu is my main streaming service because it has tons of great TV.

jbooker82

Star's is also backing out of netflix.

Yahoo News wrote: »

It could get uglier if the worst-case scenarios play out. Netflix suffered another setback earlier this month when Starz Entertainment ended talks to renew the licensing rights to a key part of Netflix's video library for streaming over the Internet. The fallout from that decision will hit in March when Netflix will no longer be able to stream the popular mix of recently released movies and TV shows that it got from Starz, raising the specter of another onslaught of customer defections.

kuntasensei

jbooker82 wrote: »

Star's is also backing out of netflix.

The Starz deal actually eliminates options from several studios, since that deal was basically a back-handed way to sneak in content from Sony. Sony's movies were already yanked, then reinstated, but expect all Sony content to go bye-bye come March if it's even put on there at all now. Additionally, Warner Bros. has made a deal with Amazon streaming that could result in titles either not going to Netflix at all or with timed exclusivity that means you may not see them for 30 days after release. So has Sony, IFC, the BBC, PBS, and Magnolia Pictures. At the very least, this gives those companies huge leverage against Netflix when it comes time to renegotiate contracts, and at the worst, could result in all of that content not being on Netflix's streaming service.

Add to those facts that Amazon's streaming service is currently free to Prime members ($79/year, which is $6.58 a month), who also get the benefit of free 2-day shipping on orders fulfilled by Amazon as part of that cost, and you can see a potential for the business to shift away from Netflix.

My point here is that the price hike comes at a strategically horrible time for Netflix, during a period in which the Starz deal falling through basically chummed the water for other studios, who will be trying to take a bigger bite out of Netflix's established profits. I'm sure Netflix will endure... but the value proposition is no longer there for a lot of people.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I need to check into the Amazon streaming option. I'm already a Prime member, and if their selection is as good as netflix I might could keep only the disc portion of Netflix. The trick with Amazon is I'd need to buy a box capable of streaming from them, whereas I already have 4 that work with Netflix.

kuntasensei

Yeah, that's the biggest drawback. My Xbox 360 does Netflix... which is mostly what I used it on. But if Amazon can branch out onto more devices, I can see that going well for them. I know the $70 Roku boxes do Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Pandora, etc., which may be worth a purchase.

bobman1235

Evrythngmatters wrote: »

I'm all good there sport. Not another hit to my ego, HELL NO!! I don't think I can handle it. I just may have to quit audio and take up knitting now. Or, I may have to dye my hair black,get shorter,become fat,and have no life. Then I may be happy with Netflix.:rolleyes:

And just think, all this over NetFlix. What a day it is!! I love it.

And by all this, you mean most people having a civil discussion, and you being a jerk? I agree, all this over Netflix.

heiney9

kuntasensei wrote: »

Add to those facts that Amazon's streaming service is currently free to Prime members ($79/year, which is $6.58 a month), who also get the benefit of free 2-day shipping on orders fulfilled by Amazon as part of that cost, and you can see a potential for the business to shift away from Netflix.

So Netflix charges $1.50 more per month when the rate increase takes affect. The big question is we jump the ship from Netflix to Amazon for streaming content do they also have STARZ content available?

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I need to check into the Amazon streaming option. I'm already a Prime member, and if their selection is as good as netflix I might could keep only the disc portion of Netflix. The trick with Amazon is I'd need to buy a box capable of streaming from them, whereas I already have 4 that work with Netflix.

It's $1.50 more per month for Netflix streaming and if the options are the same or atleast similar why make the jump to two services when one will suffice?

H9

P.s. I'm not asking to be argumentative, I am in the same boat. I stream as much content as I get DVD's............probably more because I watch older TV shows like Lost, Heroes, Weeds, Dr. Who, Dollhouse, and about 6-10 others so supending my streaming would seriously cut into what I watch, but I also want the DVD's.............I'm lazy and I'm not into Red Box at all.

H9

heiney9

I use ROKU so I can stream most if not all services. I don't see the point of paying for an Amazon Prime membership and saving $1.50 per month vs. Netflix streaming if Amazon is going to encounter the same road blocks as Netflix when it comes to content.

I realize this is a new and dynamic market (streaming and rights to content) so there probably isn't a real answer since it will constantly be changing as far as who gets what when, etc, etc, as far as releases and relationships.

H9

codyc1ark

bobman1235 wrote: »

I repeat, as calmly as your fragile ego can handle, that I have never encountered a title that Netflix could not provide to me in one of those mediums, and I challenge you to name a single one.

Just playing the devil?s advocate, 'The Dancing Outlaw', the prequel to 'Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia.'

I really want to see it.

heiney9

For now I'm going to continue to ride the Netflix streaming and 1 DVD train atleast until March when the Starz contract expires and she what falls out then. I was, and am still pissed at the price increase, but I don't really see a less expensive option that gives me the same convenience and features at this time.

H9

JPSmario

The Amazon streaming option is good if you can use it, but I can't. While Amazon is currently trying to get a deal in place for streaming content to Tivo devices, right now you can only download the program to the Tivo's HD, and that is NOT free for Amazon Prime members. My only streaming option is NetFlix.

As much as I dislike the 60% price increase on my NetFlix bill, I don't blame them. News reports state their cost for streaming rights in 2010 (?) was $180 million, but that will go up to over $2 billion for 2012 because the studios want more money (I've never heard that before :rolleyes:). Netflix is competing against the much deeper pockets of Google and Amazon as they join the streaming business. NetFlix is just getting squeezed, which is new for them.

I'll stick with them until there's a better option for me. that's just the way it works.

heiney9

When I start to think rationally and not about the % increase, there are many times I've rented a couple movies a month and paid more in late fees and initial rental fee's when I rented from a brick and mortor video store than I do with Netflix and it's new fees.

As I've said before the amount of the increase and the way they rolled out the increase and their explanation is what really pissed me off initially. I will continue to look for a less expensive alternative if it exists.

H9