Netflix Raises Prices to $18 a Month! Another Reason to Support Physical Media

[MEHEARTJC]

I asked my friend the other night. Why can't things just stay the same? I've enjoyed collecting blu-rays for over a decade now. I would love to keep buying for many more years, collecting slips and steelbooks. I love looking for bargains in stores and Black Friday.

But of course, things are changing again. I see Walmart is now making the move to push out physical media and consumers keep embracing digital which is really moronic, IMO.

If you are paying nearly $20 for Netflix, that's $240 a year. Add on Disney plus and that's another $156 and another $119 for Amazon Prime. My tv provider also charges me about $80 a month so that's well over $1000 a year for content that I never end up owning. I could buy a ton of blu-rays for that price and have content to watch as many times as I want.

I bet most people never even take a hard look how much money is going out the door each month for their streaming access.

[Goldensuitcase]

I don't see how anyone can complain with that price considering how much a person uses it on a daily basis. I mean..........That';s less than a meal for one at a chain restaurant which is a 1 hour experience on one day

[rdodolak]

This showed up on my news feed yesterday which further supports the argument that any money spent on digital media is viewed as disposable by the retailers and studios. If you're going to spend just as much on a digital stream as you would physical media you might as well actually own it.

Amazon Argues Users Don't Actually Own Purchased Prime Video Content

[theEXORCIST]

I get my Netflix for free right now from my aunt but I barley watch it. I really only wanted it for Stranger Things season 3, which l'll end up buying anyways. I also get Hulu free from a friend which I watch a couple times a week for the game shows (Ninja warrior-Jeopardy) I do have a Prime account which I like for their movies, free shipping and sales at Whole Foods. I would have to say Netflix is my least favorite and would never pay for it.

[critterdvd]

This is why I rotate streaming services. I pay for the annual pass to the Criterion Channel and Amazon comes free with the prime shipping, but all of the others I usually pick 1 service a month a rotate based on what they have and I want to watch. Usually when I have a backlog of a couple seasons/movies I'll get it for a month, watch what I want to see and the cancel until more comes around.

[starsteam]

I switched to waiting until Netflix has enough stuff I'm interested in so I can binge it all in a single month.
So far Netflix has only gotten $12.99 from me this year. I use the savings to buy movies I already own but on a superior edition/s.

[Luke Dodge748]

Last month we stopped paying for Netflix annually and just purchase gift cards to watch month-to-month. Now we're thinking about rotation two at a time, like Peacock and Netflix for two months, and then do Hulu and Netflix, or whatever. We have Amazon Prime so it's getting old having all of them every month. We usually watch reruns on Netflix, unless a new season shows up of one of our go-to shows. I'm with you, I'll be collecting blurays and now 4Ks for a long time...

Also one more thing. As an aside, our Best Buy near Baltimore has always retained a huge amount of blurays and DVDs and 4Ks. It's remained the same for decades, but recently, I walked in to BB and all of them were gone, removed and only had 1 shelf, not even using the other side. They had a cage-like shelving set up, I'm assuming to get ready for whatever they are going to do for Black Friday. But after two weeks they still have barely any blurays/4K on display. It sucks. Finally our Target two stores down did the same and they're down to one shelf, from 6. It is the end, believe it or not. Soon, you won't find them in stores unless it's like The Soundgarden, or other independent shops.

[Member-222782]

I've had Netflix for at least 5 years but barely watch any of it. I've kept it because, at around 12 bucks a month, it's cheap enough to justify keeping but at $18 I may actually consider dropping it. There's a lot of DTV junk on there and not nearly enough "good" stuff that I could see myself watching for hours on end. Also, if I spend too much time streaming, I'm not spending that time whittling down my Blu-ray unwatched pile and I consider that a problem. Look, streaming has it's uses. But I'd rather support a service that lets me make one-time purchases of films I'll only watch once, like Google Play. I will never subscribe to multiple services even if physical media really does die out.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by starsteam

I switched to waiting until Netflix has enough stuff I'm interested in so I can binge it all in a single month.
So far Netflix has only gotten $12.99 from me this year. I use the savings to buy movies I already own but on a superior edition/s.

This is how I treat streaming services as well. Pay for month when something interesting is added, binge watch for a month, cancel. Rinse and repeat for different services.

[erlinmeyer]

Get Netflix free with my T-Mobile account, but if I didn't, I would look at the cost of buying only one BD a month at $18 would be quite limiting, but that $18 on Netflix would give me many more at 4K or $14 at HD. Seems reasonable. Watched many seasons of TV shows like Schitt's Creek on Netflix that would cost a month or two fees for just one season on BD. It's more of a supplement to physical media and a dollar a month more for something that is enjoyed by me is worth it.

[steve_dave]

$18 a month and you get new content almost weekly without ads.

There is no way to own The Haunting of Bly Manor currently. Those new Adam Sandler movies are also Netflix only. Narcos was not even shared with a broadcast or cable provider, it went to Pluto TV.

Take a look at what we’re spending? Most of us are.

I paid $145 for three years of Disney+.

I paid $100 for two years of XBox Game Pass Ultimate.

I paid ~$50 for a year of Shudder.

Comparing prices:

My DirecTV charges $12.99 for Showtime. Whereas I decided to pay $18.99 for CBS All-Access with Showtime and no ads. Now I’m set for Paramount+ and I get new content & can enjoy Showtime’s movies and shows.

HBO Max is included with my DirecTV subscription and DTV gave me a discount so I pay $9 for new content.

Saving money or valuating costs is more than just not using money, it is how you use your money.

[MEHEARTJC]

Originally Posted by critterdvd

This is why I rotate streaming services. I pay for the annual pass to the Criterion Channel and Amazon comes free with the prime shipping, but all of the others I usually pick 1 service a month a rotate based on what they have and I want to watch. Usually when I have a backlog of a couple seasons/movies I'll get it for a month, watch what I want to see and the cancel until more comes around.

I do a rotating thing too. I like doing this routine:


1. Finish a blu-ray tv season or series
2. Watch 10 blu-ray movies
3. Subscribe to Netflix and watch a tv season and a few movies for a month.
4. Watch a season of Survivor on Prime
5. Watch a tv season or series on Prime plus new movies
6. Repeat lol


Usually takes me at least 2 months to get through a cycle so Netflix has built up a lot of new content by the time I'm ready to subscribe again.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

$18 a month and you get new content almost weekly without ads.

There is no way to own The Haunting of Hill House or Bly Manor.

Uh...

[Simon_LDT]

I wouldn't mind but they are capping the bitrates again (at least in the UK) and the service here has not recovered from the capping back in March (1080 stuff fares far worse than 4K content).

Not only that but they keep cancelling shows after only 1-2 seasons. If prices rise here too (likely will in a few months) I may have to cancel and do what many others do and just take the odd month here and there and binge.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by deltatauhobbit

Uh...

Oh wait... duh.

[Surge92]

It does suck that Netflix keeps raising its rates (especially since I switched to the 4K stream last month), but I love it and watch it too much to complain. I mostly watch it for the Netflix original/exclusive series and movies, with the occasional licensed movie/series. I also have Prime Video and Hulu, although I almost never watch the latter. I've toyed with the idea of getting HBO Max for the original content, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[DukeTogo84]

I only use Netflix because it's free since I have T-Mobile, but no way would I pay $18 a month for it. There are months that go by where I don't watch Netflix at all.

[h0h0x]

Streaming is more valuable for people who don't share the same preferences as collectors, and they'll pay for what their budget allows. Remember, most people still buy DVDs instead of Blu-Rays/4K, so it's quite clear that the majority do not have a collector's mindset in terms of placing importance on the quality of presentation, ownership rights, or calculating how many things they could accumulate with the same amount of money.

Whether streaming prices are reasonable depends on how frequently you plan to use the services. Personally, I like having various streaming services for access to TV shows that I'm most likely never going to watch again, or the ability to watch movies that I don't care to buy first. If I can finish a series over the course of a month in addition to a handful of movies, my $14 to Netflix or HBO Max is a great value.

The "money going out the door" argument applies to literally everything we buy as consumers. For some, $12-15 for a theater ticket is wasteful and for others, it's the best experience that money can buy.

[rewak]

They need to pay for this top quality riveting content somehow - https://variety.com/2020/film/global...ry-1234819536/

[kvnbhovis]

The last thing I watched on Netflix was some crap docudrama about the Romanovs. I turned it off halfway through and put in my TT blu of Nicholas and Alexandra. Their version of the Haunting of Hill House was ok ( but had nothing to do with the Shirley Jackson short story) until the silly happy ending. I prefer happy endings to most movies but that was just so wrong. I'm not paying $18 for junk.