Netflix raises prices by $1 for its most popular plan

Netflix, the reigning champion of subscription-based streaming entertainment, has announced that their most-subscribed-to plan will soon rise from its current price of $8.99 to $9.99. Before you panic, let’s remember that it is only $1 more per month, and existing users will get a nice, cushy grace period before they have to fork over more for their TV and movie binging. This plan is the one that allows two users to use the service at the same time, so if you’re on the one-at-a-time or four-at-a-time plan, you can let out that breath you’ve been holding, as your pricing isn’t changing — at least not yet.

This announcement echoes cacophonously with one that Netflix released in 2011, the fateful year in which they segregated their snail-mail DVD service from their streaming service, while simultaneously raising their prices by 60%. Nearly one million subscribers decided that this was not such a great move and canceled their subscription to Netflix. To be fair, Netflix price hikes haven’t all been as jolting as the one of 2011 legend. They bumped it by a dollar back in 2014 as well, and nobody really freaked out. They also have a policy of delaying price increases for current customers, a method that seems to decrease outcry from the public.

So why the continued rise in prices? In short, times have changed for the entertainment titan over the course of the years, and so have the costs associated with running the service. For one thing, Netflix has become even more commonplace. After completing their expansion to Australia, Japan, and New Zealand in 2015, the streaming service is available in over fifty countries, and they’re expected to enter Portugal, Italy, and Spain by the end of the current quarter. Netflix has also added a ton of original content over the years, with shows like the breakout hit House of Cards and totally binge-worthy Orange Is The New Black, not to mention tons of special content partnerships that make Netflix even more desirable. They will also be adding a collection Disney movies in 2016, and you know that stuff isn’t cheap.

So the bottom line here is that Netflix is asking for one extra George Washington every thirty days, and if we’re all honest with ourselves, we’re going to fork it over. After all, those seasons of Louie aren’t going to watch themselves. What do you of Netflix’s latest price increase? Still worth it at this price, especially as the level of original content continues to increase?