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"Netflix is introducing price hikes for its US subscribers today, increasing its standard plan to $14 a month and its premium tier to $18 a month.
The new pricing for the standard plan is a $1 price increase (from $13 a month), while the new premium tier cost is a $2 increase (from $16 a month). New subscribers will have to pay the updated monthly fees, while current subscribers will see the new prices over the next few weeks as they roll out with customer’s billing cycles." (https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/29/...oduct-features)
HBO Max is $15, Hulu Live TV 5/2017: $40, 1/2019: $45, 12/2019: $55, 12/2020: $65
Do you get the feeling that the streaming services are slowing raising the pot to boiling but since it's incremental we keep the subscriptions going?
Bundled cable is looking better and more appealing than cobbling together these various streaming services.
Agree. I have Netflix and Amazon; however, Amazon is close to becoming a monthly service. Dropping it and then just signing on for one or two months a year to watch some of the shows they do I actually like (Ryan, Bosch, etc.) Their shipping has gone from two days to who knows, and since I moved to ID from a small town in SE UT, I have other options than Amazon.
Netflix, as much as their price increase is not friendly, I still watch them more and more due to the fact new shows are terrible so time for the older ones has come.
Might do the two months a year with HBO maxx sometime; Hulu live with no commercials if more than my Dish, so why change?
First, all prices go up over time. Newspapers, Netflix, rent, wages, cars, etc all go up over time. Commodities (oil, food, etc) are some of the few items based more on raw supply & demand, that don't always go up. It's not some nefarious plot, it's life in a capitalistic society.
Netflix could keep their prices the same as when they first started. But then I assume everything else would stay the same--we would order DVDs from them, they would mail them, we would watch on a DVD player. And Amazon could keep their prices the same, before Prime. But then all we would order from them is books, and they would be mailed second class, and take a week to arrive.
OR...
These companies could change, grow, improve, innovate... and yes, charge us more. They could invent streaming shows instead of mailing DVDs. Then they could start making their own series, instead of just streaming movies & TV shows. They could start selling other products in addition to books. They could come up with two day shipping (which seems commonplace now, but was AMAZING when they first offered it).
The ones that don't innovate, and don't ever need to raise prices, they join Blockbuster.
I found Netflix to be not worth the money a few years ago. Dropped them and haven't looked back. Their movie selection gradually got worse over time, to the point that I barely used it, and I don't watch new TV shows these days.
First, all prices go up over time. Newspapers, Netflix, rent, wages, cars, etc all go up over time. Commodities (oil, food, etc) are some of the few items based more on raw supply & demand, that don't always go up. It's not some nefarious plot, it's life in a capitalistic society.
Netflix could keep their prices the same as when they first started. But then I assume everything else would stay the same--we would order DVDs from them, they would mail them, we would watch on a DVD player. And Amazon could keep their prices the same, before Prime. But then all we would order from them is books, and they would be mailed second class, and take a week to arrive.
OR...
These companies could change, grow, improve, innovate... and yes, charge us more. They could invent streaming shows instead of mailing DVDs. Then they could start making their own series, instead of just streaming movies & TV shows. They could start selling other products in addition to books. They could come up with two day shipping (which seems commonplace now, but was AMAZING when they first offered it).
The ones that don't innovate, and don't ever need to raise prices, they join Blockbuster.
The thing is, these streaming channels were sold to us as a lower cost alternative to cable. Now they're creeping up to about the same price.
I understand we pay for innovations, but they're saving a ton of money by not paying for the infrastructure that cable requires, and not paying for technicians to come out and hook each house up and equipment to receive the signal and by not paying for mailing costs for sending discs out etc etc etc.
I understand feeling snookered into switching. But like the OP, I guess if a lot of us are unhappy we can go back to cable if we feel like it's a better value.
The thing is, these streaming channels were sold to us as a lower cost alternative to cable. Now they're creeping up to about the same price.
It's not even entirely about the price, it's that now there are so many options. A few years ago, if you cut the cord you could have Netflix, Prime, maybe something else, and be done with it. Now there's Disney, and Discovery+, and HBO Max, and BritBox, etc. etc. There's an expectation that you're going to juggle services and subscribe and cancel as needed, which is a lot more upkeep than a lot of people want to deal with.
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