Netflix recently released its 2024 earnings report, which reports record subscriber growth. However, crossing the 300 million subscriber milestone has prompted the company to focus on consolidating its profitability, which will result in further price hikes for its users.
Netflix has repeatedly courted controversy for its increasingly pricey business model since the end of the COVID pandemic. Back then, the streaming service justified its price hikes and crackdown on password sharing as a necessary measure to combat inflation and declining subscriber numbers. Netflix’s decision to continue raising prices even after reporting record levels of growth has drawn controversy, with online reactions largely slamming the move.
Netflix increases its prices despite record growth
Netflix is reportedly increasing its prices for several tiers in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Portugal. While the company announced its intent to do so in the earnings report, it did not provide any estimates for the new prices, which were instead reported on by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.
Per these two outlets, the ad-supported tier price will increase from $6.99 to $7.99 per month, the standard ad-free tier will increase from $15.49 to $17.99 per month, and the premium tier will increase from $ 22.99 to $24.99 per month.
In their report, the company had this to say about the reasons behind their increased revenue:
“Our newly established live programming slate has already delivered some must-watch moments. Although our live programming will likely be a small percentage of our total view hours and content expense, the eventized nature will result in outsized value to our members and our business.”
Netflix doesn’t plan to continue reporting subscriber numbers beyond this report, with analysts claiming that the growth resulting from recent measures, such as their password-sharing crackdown, has lasted longer than expected. Nonetheless, Netflix’s recent trend towards increasing its prices has sparked considerable online backlash.
Activists like Robert Reich have accused the service of enriching its executives and shareholders at customers’ expense. Users on the social media platform X, such as Reid Southern and Pyo, have encouraged boycotts of the service.
Despite the noticeable backlash against the service’s continued price hikes, Netflix does have many current and upcoming releases to incentivize subscribers to stay on. These include the upcoming second season of the One Piece live-action series, the third and final season of Squid Game, the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, and the second season of Black Doves.
The controversy around Netflix’s price hikes has led to broader discussions about the potential downsides of streaming’s newfound dominance, as Netflix’s original resurgence was buoyed by consumer fatigue over traditional cable programming. Given how services like Netflix were marketed as a cost-effective, consumer-friendly alternative to broadcast television, it remains to be seen if market trends may lead to other options for streaming moving forward.
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