Netflix to raise "bundle" prices 60%

[Huey]

I only use Netflix's streaming service so maybe I am numb to it because gave-up on NF disc rentals a long time ago... but I don't understand the outrage I'm hearing from others around the net over the price increase for the disc plans.

Thanks for your opinion on the streaming. I'm not outraged, but I was already considering dropping Netflix, and the price increase just cemented that decision. I just turned a movie in the other day that I had received back in February, so I don't feel I'm getting my money's worth.

 

[Yesfan70]

I only use Netflix's streaming service so maybe I am numb to it because gave-up on NF disc rentals a long time ago... but I don't understand the outrage I'm hearing from others around the net over the price increase for the disc plans.

I don't use the disc plans either, but I could understand that kind of increase upsetting a lot of people. 60% can be a lot if you're also shelling out for sat/cable and internet. If I could get my locals over the air, I would probably do like you and some of the other folks have done, OTA and Netflix only. I could save a lot of money that way.

 

[Towen7]

I'm not outraged, but I was already considering dropping Netflix, and the price increase just cemented that decision.

I didn't mean to imply that you or anyone here was outraged. But I get the opinion from reading blogs and articles today that a lot of people are.

I just turned a movie in the other day that I had received back in February, so I don't feel I'm getting my money's worth.

That is EXACTLY why I dropped their disc service so many moons ago. I really think that NetFlix wants out of the disc rental business.

 

[Yesfan70]

........I really think that NetFlix wants out of the disc rental business.

That's where I'm confused. I've read that more than once in this thread, but when I did have NF (streaming only), I did see a lot of titles I wanted to stream that were "DVD only". Is that the problem NF's having with the studios?....not being able to stream all the releases?

 

[Botch]

........I really think that NetFlix wants out of the disc rental business.

That's where I'm confused. I've read that more than once in this thread, but when I did have NF (streaming only), I did see a lot of titles I wanted to stream that were "DVD only". Is that the problem NF's having with the studios?....not being able to stream all the releases?

Good question. If I owned Netflix and wanted to get out of the disk business, I'd simply say:
"In the interest of saving our Earth we have chosen to only export electrons; small plastic disks kill dead dinosaurs both in manufacture and delivery, and are filling our landfills fully. You may now thank us."

 

[mzpro5]

........I really think that NetFlix wants out of the disc rental business.

That's where I'm confused. I've read that more than once in this thread, but when I did have NF (streaming only), I did see a lot of titles I wanted to stream that were "DVD only". Is that the problem NF's having with the studios?....not being able to stream all the releases?

I would say that is pretty much it. They only reason they are staying in the disc business is because to offer the "latest" releases they have to rent discs. but even then they have a month wait on many if not most new releases. I can go to a local rental place the day a disc is released and pick it up not with NF though.

The relatively steep price increase plus this delay crap they agreed to a while back have convinced me to drop discs which I did yesterday.

And I think the furor is due to 2 things - first and foremost the way it was announced, out of the blue and/or a canned email message that made it sound like they couldn't care less if you dropped NF - even if you had been a faithful member and put up with two smaller price increases over the last year.. Second the 60% is quite a bit to swallow at one time for a lot of people.

I also think they could have offered some type of deal for "long time" members, would have softened the blow. Maybe some type of incremental increase.

What ever happens the way it was handled by NF (not necessarily the price increase) will go down as one of the biggest business/marketing goofs ever

 

[Tee]

I'm dumping my disc rental and going with the streaming only, just what NF wants I know.

 

[Maximo]

Of course NF wants out of the disc business. Think of all of the loss they pay every year in damaged and lost discs. Streaming is where its at. But that will never happen.

I think I am going to go to streaming only as well. We just don't watch a lot of discs in the summer. At the rate we watch it is cheap to start buying again.

 

[Akula]

The relatively steep price increase plus this delay crap they agreed to a while back have convinced me to drop discs which I did yesterday.

Same here. I had considered dropping back to a single disc at a time, but decided that wasn't worth $10/month. The disc plan has officially become far too expensive to be justified. Unless watching movies is pretty much all you do, you can get the same level of entertainment elsewhere for far less. We dropped the discs entirely. The fact that they agreed to a 30 day delay in releases from some studios just helped me make the decision. I don't know if they realize it, but Netflix really did make a deal with the devil on that one; while they announced more stuff being available to stream, on the disc end they want you to pay more for less. No dice.

We have Amazon Prime for the shipping benefits, the streaming is just icing on the cake. IMO, it's not all that great; from what I've seen they don't have much (if any) HD available under the free Prime streaming, and very few movies.

More and more I am thinking that the movie studios are trying to kill the golden goose. They consider their back catalogs to be supremely valuable when viewed over the internet; much more so than when seen in any other fashion. Thus, the prices keep going up. If they are not actively trying to piss off the consumer and encourage piracy by their pricing structure, you wouldn't know it. While they have the right to charge whatever they like, they are nearing the point where people are drawing the line.

 

[Kazaam]

From what I've read in this thread, it sounds like the studios are making disc rentals more expensive for Netflix, and postage ain't getting any cheaper, either. But is it possible that the real culprit is increasing streaming license fees---not associated disc-based costs?

Obviously, Netflix see's streaming as their future; but I remember reading earlier that licensing fees for streaming were expected to increase quite a bit. So maybe they might be wanting to try keeping streaming subscriptions at a lower price point for now until enough consumers get on board with it. Then they can start jacking up streaming subscriptions. But in the meantime they're charging more on disc-based subs to pay for the streaming, whilst simultaneously working toward eliminating discs. Or maybe not, I suppose?

 

[MatthewB]

FUCK< went to my local Blockbuster (which was open last week) and they have closed up shop. I asked them a month ago if they were gonna remain open and they said yes. Guess this explains the great 5 for 20 Bluray sale they had going on. Kinda wish they had warned the customers cause I would've bought a crapload more Blurays and games. So now Redbox is my only local option. I just stream NF.

 

[Kazaam]

A blockbuster shuttered down? I'm shocked!!!

Makes me wonder: Would they go after someone with bill collectors if that someone had rented a movie the night before the store closed, but then failed to ever drop it off in the return box? Not that I'd ever care enough about a crappy DVD or Blu-Ray disc to try and get a more-or-less free movie that way. Well... unless it was the DVD set of the complete series of Chris Elliot's "Get a Life" show.

 

[Botch]

Matt, go back and check the dumpsters behind the building. The Blockbuster that went out of business next to my favorite Thai restaurant had a bunch of large garbage bags setting outside, I was quite tempted to take a few home but I'm just not a movie person.

 

[Kazaam]

Matt, go back and check the dumpsters behind the building.

I did that when the local Hollywood Video went out of business. Unfortunately, all that I found was about a hundred copies of "The Hottie & The Nottie".
.
.
.
On VHS to boot.

 

[Towen7]

I imagine that the bill collecting is handled by a corporate office which, as far as I know, is still operating.

The last time inset foot in a BB was out of desperation. I had guests coming over and wanted a BD copy of Robin Hood.

 

[Botch]

Is that Paris Hilton? I been wondering what she did that made her so great.

 

[Haywood]

I wasn't using the disc service much anyway and my daughter using the streaming a lot, so I just dropped down to the streaming-only plan. I mainly get BDs from Red Box and occasionally from Blockbuster.

I disagree with the general sentiment that streaming is inherently terrible. Anyone who believes that needs to watch a 1080p HDX movie on Vudu. It is better than broadcast HTDV and almost indistinguishable from BD. Almost. At any rate, it is very, very good. Netflix is not quite there, but is getting better over time.

My daughter uses it to watch a lot of anime. It is FINE for that. We've also used it to catch up on TV shows we missed. Again, fine. It is 720p for goodness sake. To hear some people talk, you'd think it was 320i. We use it to watch the odd movie. I gotta tell you, I wasn't pining for 1080p watching Pricilla, Queen of the Desert. Do I want to watch Iron Man on my 67" TV via Netflix Streaming? Hell no, but it would kick ass on a tablet. It is all about context.

 

[Kazaam]

I disagree with the general sentiment that streaming is inherently terrible. Anyone who believes that needs to watch a 1080p HDX movie on Vudu.

Agreed. Although the bitrate for streaming is far smaller than what is found on a Blu-Ray, the Vudu HDX 1080p does look quite good. I recall a thread in a different forum where someone even tried capturing screen shots of Vudu versus Blu-Ray screen shots. And, at least in a few examples, the difference appeared not as wide as I'd have originally thought. So I'm kind of excited about Vudu (just wish their prices would drop). That said... I'm guessing differences between Blu-Ray and streaming become more apparent with larger screen sizes, like a 100-inch projection setup maybe?

And, of course, you get lossless audio with Blu-Ray. So, of course, it's better. But me and my 50-inch screen aren't opposed to streaming.

Oh... and I also agree that Netflix streaming isn't as good as Vudu streaming. At least not last time I had Netflix which was months ago during winter.

 

[Kazaam]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Why-Netflix-Raised-Its-nytimes-3842223211.html?x=0

Here's an article that somewhat puts things into perspective. It's still a bit angry in that the combined disc+streaming plans went up so high so fast, but it also points out that the unlimited DVD disc-only plan is now offered at its cheapest price ever. So if someone never used the streaming option, then their subscription price may have actually gone down. So that article says, anyway. I've not actually verified.

My interpretation: So maybe Netflix is attempting to make streaming subscriptions more self-sustaining? (Which is different than my previous theory of Netflix raising disc prices to sustain the streaming.) That is, making it self-sustaining now that a lot of folks have gotten hooked on streaming from back when they had it practically thrown in as a freebie, which was apparently moreso just an extended trial period. Still sucks, though, for those who want both disc service and streaming service. That's quite the price hike. A really big and a really sudden one at that.

 

[Haywood]

The only reason I don't use Vudu for my movie rentals is price. The convenience is wonderful, the interface is excellent and the selection is very good for the kinds of movies I typically want to rent. Would I ever buy a movie that way? No. The picture and sound quality are substantially better than DVD and at least on-par with HD pay-per-view, but not quite up to snuff with Blu-Ray. I am watching a 67" 1080p LED light-engine DLP set from about 10 feet away and I have no complaints with the picture quality. It honestly looks better than a lot of the HD content I get from U-Verse.