Today in TechNetflix bows $8/month streaming plan for U.S., raises DVD-by-mail prices
At last, movie lovers in the U.S. will be able to sign up for Netflix's unlimited streaming service without having to pay for DVDs as well. Those who still want DVDs from Netflix, however, will be getting a rude surprise: a price hike.
The new streaming-only plan, which is available now and costs $8 a month, costs the same as the streaming plan Netflix launched in Canada two months ago — and it also happens to be the same price as Hulu Plus, which just lowered its original $10-a-month subscription fee.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had been hinting for months that a streaming-only plan similar to the just-launched streaming service for Canada was on tap for U.S. viewers, so today's news wasn't a huge surprise.
But there had also been rumblings that Netflix might raise prices for its existing DVD-by-mail subscribers (who get unlimited streaming included with their at-home discs) in the bargain, which is exactly what happened.
Netflix has a chart of its new pricing scheme on its official blog; in a nutshell, those who get either one or two DVDs at home will pay a buck extra a month, with one-at-a-time DVD subscribers now paying $10 a month and two-at-a-timers paying $15 a month.
The price hikes are even higher for those who get three or more DVDs at home, ranging from $3 more a month for three at-home DVDs to $8 a month extra for eight DVDs.
Meanwhile, Netflix's "limited" DVD plan — which offers just one DVD at home, with a limit of two DVD rentals per month, and no streaming — will remain unchanged at $5 a month.
On the official Netflix blog, VP Jessie Becker explains that the price hikes will "allow us to continue to offer the popular plan choice of unlimited TV episodes and movies streaming instantly along with unlimited DVDs," and that the new $8 streaming-only plan "reflects no DVD shipping costs."
Becker added that there won't be any cheaper unlimited DVD plans without a streaming option because Netflix users are "already watching more TV episodes and movies streamed instantly over the Internet than on DVDs, and we expect that trend to continue."
The news comes about a month after Netflix's chief executive declared that Netflix is "by every measure" a "streaming company, which also offers DVDs-by-mail" rather than the other way around.
And it was barely a week ago that Hulu, which is increasingly looking like a Netflix competitor, lowered the monthly subscription fee for its Hulu Plus service from $10 to $8.
Hulu Plus offers thousands of streaming TV episodes from networks such as ABC, NBC, and Fox, including hundreds of full seasons of shows. The Plus service also lets you stream shows to devices like the iPad, iPhone, PlayStation 3, and Roku and TiVo set-top boxes.
For now, Hulu has the edge when it comes to streaming TV shows, while Netflix has a leg up in streaming movies. Netflix is starting to close the gap, though, meaning that Hulu and Netflix are increasingly starting to eye each other as competitors.
So, anyone out there interested in signing up for Netflix's new streaming-only service? Annoyed that Netflix's unlimited DVD plans are getting price hikes? Fire away below.
Update: For those Netflix unlimited DVD subscribers who've noticed that their pricing plans are "no longer offered" but haven't changed yet, be aware that you'll have to start higher prices beginning with your next billing period. Also, for those of you who were asking, about 20,000 videos are available for streaming on Netflix; not bad, but still only a fraction of the 90,000-plus DVD titles in Netflix's collection.
— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.
