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Tracking 12 Years of Netflix Premium Price Increases (+108%) (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

CPI taken from https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

I fudged the CPI calculation a bit because I didn't do the compounding monthly, but I ensured that based on the CPI calculator, the starting value of $11.99 -> $16.43 from January 2013 -> December 2024.

To be fair, I think CPI is somewhat bullshit, but it was the easiest .gov source for inflation data that I knew about.

Data:

Year	Basic	Standard with Ads	Standard	Premium	Premium Following CPI	CPI Inflation %
2011	$7.99	-	-	–	-	-
2012	$7.99	-	-	–	-	-
2013	$7.99	-	$9.99	$11.99	$11.99	1.58%
2014	$7.99	-	$10.99	$13.99	$12.19	-0.89%
2015	$7.99	-	$11.99	$14.99	$12.09	1.37%
2016	$7.99	-	$11.99	$14.99	$12.26	2.50%
2017	$7.99	-	$12.99	$15.99	$12.57	2.07%
2018	$7.99	-	$12.99	$15.99	$12.84	1.55%
2019	$8.99	-	$13.99	$16.99	$13.05	2.49%
2020	$8.99	-	$14.99	$18.99	$13.38	1.40%
2021	$8.99	-	$14.99	$18.99	$13.58	7.48%
2022	$9.99	-	$15.49	$19.99	$14.60	6.41%
2023	Phased Out	$6.99	$15.49	$19.99	$15.55	3.09%
2024	–	$6.99	$15.49	$22.99	$16.04	2.33%
2025	–	$7.99	$17.99	$24.99	$16.43	-

edit: fixed a calculation mistake (accidentally was using 2012->2025 inflation not 2013->2025) edit 2: zeroed y axis

top 26 comments

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

the first unlimited streaming-only was $7.99 in jan 2011. it had no ads and was literally 'unlimited'.

"should be" $11.45 today (dec 2024, acc to bis.gov).

but wait, they now charge extra for streaming outside the 'household', so better knock that down by at least one-third.

hey look, we're right back at $7.99.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 month ago

Something this graph doesn't include is there was way more content. Everyone put their stuff on Netflix, and it wasn't a revolving door of awful Netflix originals.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So the normal "I just want to watch netflix" price has gone from $8 to $18. A 125% increase.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

I'll turn this into a corporate selling point!

"Hey look, we decreased the price of premium by 17% over a 12 year period. (as compared to our standard plan)"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Yeah, which is even more insane. Probably should have graphed that.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Also doesn't take into account the sharing account purge. I would guess that's easily a +50% increase if we assume half of everyone using Netflix was sharing an account that then couldn't. Could be higher.

Could probably base a rough figure for that on subscriber count change after the restrictions were put into place.

[–] pipes 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Well put, that's the most commonly experienced anti-feature introduced, another less common one where they have been less and less lenient over the years is geolocation restrictions: people in the past could register with other countries (cheaper) pricing, today most legitimate customers cannot access their content even when traveling for a few days, or they risk getting blocked. Similarly to the region-codes on dvds and blurays, I can't imagine it really helps sales, but it siloes consumers into country blocks and monopolies tend to like that.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

I had family members getting blocked when they were legitimately travelling for work. (Travel nurse) It's really bad and makes it so hard to use even when you're paying for it. Which. Is. Insane.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Zero that axis, please.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

done.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This, please.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Sure sure. Hahah a fair point.

[+] [email protected] -20 points 1 month ago (3 children)

This is the way that it should be IMHO - the rich pay more, and get more in return. Like, hasn't the feature set of Premium increased? 4k, multiple household multiple screen whatever whatever. Anyway if they can afford it and want to, then that helps everyone out for them to support the entire platform.

More troubling to me (than whatever is going on with Premium that is way above most of our heads) is the recent uptick for Standard. Like the blue line is remarkably flat, and red was too until 2025. But iirc there are "details" there like that is only for people outside the USA, not that that one fact alone isn't high relevant, but that it's one example of a detail (and there may be several others along with it) that complicates interpretation of just these raw numbers. Like at that point I'd want to know the reason why the price went up only outside but not inside the USA - pure corporate greed? (Certainly that's one of the factors:-P, but is it the only one?) Laws passed in the other countries affected that makes it more expensive to operate there? A bit of both?

I like paying for Netflix, bc it's a superb player that handles network congestion and such very well and it signals content creators which content I want to see more of. I don't restrict myself to "only" what I can pay for, but if a show is on Netflix then I enjoy the convenience that it offers. The situation is nothing like what it used to be let's say 5 years ago, and I worry about how that will continue to evolve in a year or two, but for now it halfway works - and I'm not signing up for Disney or Paramount or Hulu or whatever so Netflix it is then. As long as I can afford it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

the way that it should be

From each according to his wealth, to each according to his payment.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

It's a banana Michael, how much could it cost...? Ten dollars?

[+] [email protected] -9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I said: eat the rich

Your response: money shouldn't exist

Okay... maybe, but this is what we have now.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't or at least didn't read your original comment as "eat the rich", but I agree. Rereading it I can kind of see the sentiment a bit, but ultimately Netflix 4k isn't a "rich" kind of thing. Call me crazy but I think their profits show the price increase is just greed. And sure, make it be more than the standard plan, but that doesn't account for the meteoric price increases.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's on me, I explained myself horribly there.:-D

Also I was speaking to my ignorance, and that never comes across well - like I was saying that I don't know what other features the Premium plan even offers, above the others. Hypothetically, if more were offered, then the price increase might make more sense?

I've never had nor will ever have the Premium plan though, so in the end I don't really care what its price is, except that if it keeps the company fed and allows the lower plans to stay cheaper then good for it?

I care WAY more about that tiny little blip, just one year's spike in the standard plan over the last year, then everything else that increased. And the blue did not increase, much.

So if the rich have to pay more now, boo hoo? While the blue remains the same = good? And, prior to 2025, which I don't really understand, the red / Standard likewise?

But your title focuses entirely on the increase in the Premium plan. Which, if that's what you want to do is your call, and yet I felt like there was a lack of explanation as to why (not that you have to go do it, just saying that would be the next step, in order to interpret these raw numbers), and a whole story about the blue and red lines that runs counter to the story for the (particularly yellow) Premium plan(s).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Lol all good and fair points.

I just focused on premium because that's what I had prior to cancelling. So totally just focused on what directly impacted me. I should have included both and called out the removal of 'basic' and forcing users to either pay more for standard or accept ads

Frankly, across the board it's just standard enshitification.

I think my other thought is I don't think you should have to be rich to be able to stream a higher bitrate. Sure maybe it costs more storage / bandwidth but I don't think it should be something only rich people can afford.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Ah I get you now. Yeah, I probably would have cancelled it as well in this case:-).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As kbal pointed out, the standard plan has increased 125% as well. So your original statement really doesn't track with that.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes and I spoke directly to that:

red was too until 2025. But iirc there are "details" there like that... complicates interpretation of just these raw numbers.

Tbh I don't understand the recent blip in the red, but indeed that alone would justify me leaving Netflix, if it happened to me - and I suppose I will face that fact soon, so I should begin to brush up on my sailing skills, which I have mostly neglected bc the 123s are so great and low-effort, when they work, but they often do not.

This worries me greatly, and I apologize if I sounded insensitive that it's already happening to others as well. I wanted clarification as to what these numbers MEAN, but I should search and read rather than speak that out I guess.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Yep. It's def a trend of, take over and then price gouge everyone.

In a word, enshitification. I'm currently on a de-googling journey and it feels so good every service I cut.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I think 4k was always the offering for premium. And yes, multiple screens, but then it became ONLY in the same household, so that isn't tracked here as well (features removed -- or disallowed)

The removal of basic and replacing it with a slightly cheaper ad free supported tier was all done to push people to purchase standard, which I agree, has started to rise at a faster pace recently as well.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I can assure you, any features they've added, have not accounted for what they've removed and the price increase.

I think 4k started to get added in 2014. Originally the premium plan was required for 4 screens vs the regular 2 screens.

"Netflix has been on a roll, driven by subscriber growth and price hikes. For the fourth quarter of 2024, the company reported net revenue of $10.2 billion, up from $8.8 billion in the year-ago period, while net income more than doubled to $1.9 billion. Netflix shares have soared 102% over the last 12 months as the company widens the gap with competitors. "

https://m.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/NFLX/netflix/net-income

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Rich is when 4k Netflix