If you’re a fan of House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, or binge-watching in general, get ready to pay a little more.
CEO Reed Hastings has announced that due to the increasing amount of programming available to stream, Netflix will be raising their monthly subscription fees for new users by $1 or $2 “later this quarter.” If you already are signed up, then Hastings assures you that you’ll have a “generous time period” to enjoy your $7.99 per month rate before you too will see your costs go up.
This announcement also comes on the heels of Netflix’s March agreement with Comcast to free up more bandwidth for users to stream video, a deal some say was basically an act of extortion by the cable giant aimed solely at getting as much “free money” as possible. That $45 billion pact is now being examined by the United States Senate.
Anytime we see “raising prices,” it’s natural to react with some skepticism. However, it’s also true that Netflix has been crushing it lately with both original programming like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, as well as recently adding tons of new shows and movies like House, MD and Don Jon (coming in May). If they can keep adding programming to the streaming service that we actually want to watch, an extra $12 to $24 a year sounds reasonable enough.
And hey, maybe if the government steps in and makes Comcast give the money back, Netflix will cut us all a fat rebate check.
[via A.V. Club]
