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After Upping Pricing Plan, Netflix Wonders Where The Haters Are
Gimme my Netflix! (Photo by _tar0_ via Flickr)
So are haters not hatin' enough? When California-based rental and streaming hub Netflix announced upcoming pricing plan changes, investors were delighted, while consumers were irate. Under the new plans, subscribers who now want to get discs by mail and access content online for streaming will have to purchase two plans for a combined cost that reflects a 60% price increase from what they currently pay for the same services.
On Twitter, and in comments sections all over the very internet tubes on which they view their TV shows and movies through the service, users proclaimed this was the tipping point that was inspiring them to cancel their memberships. A "#dearnetflix" hashtag sprung up on Twitter for everyone bitching about the price hike.
But Netflix CEO Reed Hastings revealed yesterday that he was surprised people didn't bitch more. All Things D explains:
“Believe it or not, the noise level was actually less than we expected, given a 60 percent price increase for some subscribers,” Hastings said on yesterday’s earnings call, answering a question about the outpouring of outrage on the Web. “We knew what we were getting into, we tried to be as straightforward as we could, and that has worked out very well for us.”
Netflix also knows that subscriber growth is going to go a little flat when the new pricing plans force current subscribers to, well, pony up, lose one of their viewing options, or take a hike altogether. It's still not really bad news for the business, since so many people seem to be staying on to stream reruns of the "Cosby Show" and obscure anime while getting their oft-mangled discs in the mail.
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