Netflix will increase the price of its ad-free streaming service once the actors’ strike ends, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Thanks, Joe Biden!
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Netflix plans to raise the price of its ad-free service a few months after the continuing Hollywood actors strike ends, the latest in a series of recent price increases by the country’s largest streaming platforms.
The streaming service is discussing raising prices in several markets globally, but will likely begin with the U.S. and Canada, according to people familiar with the matter. It couldn’t be learned how much Netflix will raise prices by or when exactly the new prices will take effect. Netflix declined to comment.
Netflix and I got along just fine for around a dozen years. The monthly subscription fee was reasonable, and everything wasn’t gay. Then one day, I discovered I was paying $16 a month, and everything was gay. So long, Netflix.
Currently, Netflix charges you $6.99 per month for programming with ads. Why anyone would pay to watch programming with ads is beyond me. Have you not heard of Pluto, FreeVee, or Tubi? Those streamers have more content than you could ever hope to watch … for free. Yes, there are ads, but it’s free.
Then there’s the $15.49 Netflix package, where you have access to everything ad-free.
The premium Netflix package currently costs $19.99 per month, which allows you to share passwords with a couple of people outside the home.
With Netflix, it got to the point where I was paying $16 a month to endlessly surf the Netflix menu looking for something to watch. But then, whenever I found something of interest, there was either a guy in a dress or two guys kissing. Enough was enough. I now spend that $16 a month stocking up on Blu-ray copies of The Green Berets.
To be fair, Netflix is one of the few streamers making money. It helps when you are the Jell-O and Kleenex of streaming services — when your brand is synonymous with the product and shorthand for the product: Yeah, I got the Disney+ Netflix. If you stream, you start with Netflix and then check out the rest.
In my effort to continue being fair, Netflix is not the only streamer raising prices. The Wall Street Journal has a chart with each streamer listed and, with the exception of Amazon Prime and Paramount Plus, the prices go up and up and up. They sucker you in with a low price and then bleed you dry.
All I’m saying is this… before you pour all this money into a streaming service run by people who hate you, check out the free streamers like those mentioned above. There is so much free streaming TV I can hardly wrap my mind around it. Except for the latest seasons of brand-new shows, you can now get for free what you paid your cable TV provider $175 a month for.
The only streaming service I pay for is Amazon Prime, but I don’t subscribe to Amazon for its wretched streaming service. I subscribe to get free shipping on all those Green Beret Blu-rays.
John Nolte’s debut novel Borrowed Time is available to order, including Kindle and Audible. Amazon reviews are appreciated and helpful.