When I think about Netflix and all these other streaming services, a song comes to mind…
Now, that the singing is done, on with the article.
Netflix wants more money as usual
Netflix reported its earnings today and it included a nasty surprise for a couple of countries. It announced that the company will be retiring their $11.99 plan starting in Canada in the UK. For those not in the know, that is Netflix’s cheapest ad-free plan. It is planning to axe the plan in the second quarter.
Once the change is made, customers have a choice to go up to the $15.49 plan to continue ad-free viewing or go down to the $6.99 plan which has ads.
In Q4‘23, like the quarter before, our ads membership increased by nearly 70% quarter over quarter, supported by improvements in our offering (e.g., downloads) and the phasing out of our Basic plan for new and rejoining members in our ads markets. The ads plan now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets and we’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there.“
Excerpt from Netflix earnings report
Netflix says this is because of all the new features it’s decided to dip its toes into. That includes 4K streams and gaming. Netflix has already been thinking about adding ads and microtransactions to its gaming lineup. But they aren’t stopping there. Executives wrote, “As we invest in and improve Netflix, we’ll occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra to reflect those improvements.”
To add more fuel to this dumpster fire, Netflix announced that it is brining WWE Monday Night Raw to the service with a 10-year deal. This cost the company $5 billion. So, that’s an added expense.
As someone who hasn’t subscribed to Netflix in a while, I don’t understand why they are adding services nobody truly asked for. Unfortunately, as bad as it has gotten, the company does offer things that bring people in. Its Games business is doing well. The live action Avatar: The Last Airbender (not Shyamalan’s version) is releasing soon. And I want to see that animated Scott Pilgrim.
Also, while I don’t care for One Piece, something about it is resonating with me.
Maybe it’s the call of the sea…
Source: The Verge
