Online Subscribers Are Outraged By ANOTHER Netflix Price Hike

Enraged Netflix subscribers have voiced their intent to terminate their subscriptions after the streaming service revealed a price increase for millions of customers in the U.K., U.S., and France.

Venting their frustrations on social media, users have accused the streaming service of offering a poorer service at an increased cost and criticized it for its perceived surplus of low-quality content.

Backed by its increasing confidence, driven by the addition of 8.8 million subscribers in the last quarter, Netflix has announced plans to raise prices for its premium ad-free subscriptions in the United States by $3 per month, bringing it to $22.99. The one-stream ad-free plan will see an increase to $11.99 per month. 

All other Netflix plans, including the lowly priced $6.99-a-month ad-supported tier, will maintain their current monthly costs. Netflix also announced price increases for certain subscription tiers in the United Kingdom and France as well.

As already mentioned, the price adjustment left a sour taste in users' mouths leading some of them to point out the flaw in the plan and express their decision to cancel their subscriptions online. Taking to X, one fan broke down some pointers that read:

"This 14% jump in $NFLX is going to be short-lived. The headline: Netflix gained nearly 9 million new subscribers. The reason: No more password sharing. The reality: Netflix didn't gain 9 million new users. The new generation is spending far more time on YouTube and TikTok, and Netflix's peak is coming sooner than you think."

"Agreed 100%. This move has to be greatly exasperated by short covering. the only thing going for $NFLX is that its competition is doing even worse. This business model has long peaked," this online citizen wrote in response to the initial message. 

Making a grand announcement, this X user declared, "Today I have made the difficult decision and cancel my @NetflixUK subscription. After 10 or so years. I feel that there is not a lot of new content to justify the price increase. I will now be subscribing to @DisneyPlus #Netflix #DisneyPlus."

A fourth person noted, "Netflix announcing another price increase during the actor's strike is a prime example of them not caring whatsoever about paying people what they're worth. #SagAftraStrike." 

A fifth observer queried, "How does it feel to price yourself right out of business? @netflix. Won't even feel bad about pirating your content now ?," as a sixth tagged Netflix to state, "y'all did a price hike but always take away the good shows. Y'all really are not the best anymore #canceling #firstkill." A seventh critic claimed, "Netflix bout to piss me off all these price changes," while an eighth explained:

"Although Netflix gained customers in every region, average revenue per member decreased year over year because many subscribers were on lower-priced plans. Despite the higher price, there'll be less new content because of the Hollywood strikes. Capitalism is a b—— #Netflix."

A ninth X user penned, "Cancelled @netflix for continuous price hikes," and a tenth shared, "Netflix has to do a better job with comms. We have heard about the price increase for so long many people think it already happened and that this is an additional price increase."

Amid the online outcry, CNN Business reported that Netflix's crackdown on password-sharing, or what the company refers to as "paid sharing," appears to be having a positive impact on the company. 

Per the company's third-quarter earnings report, the move has resulted in fewer membership cancellations and, interestingly, a conversion of customers who previously relied on borrowed passwords into full-paying subscribers. 

The former mail-based rental business also revealed that its expansion into advertising-supported tiers is showing significant growth, with a nearly 70% increase in membership in this category compared to the previous quarter. This diversification in their offerings is helping boost their overall revenue. 

In the last quarter, Netflix reported $8.54 billion in revenue, which contributed to earnings per share of $3.73. These growths and increases make it seem like their strategy of providing a variety of plans to cater to different customer preferences is proving successful.