Netflix price increase coming when ongoing actors strike ends

12 months ago

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Netflix is about to get more expensive, starting in the United States and Canada. This comes after Netflix increased its prices across the board over a year ago, but also effectively increased its prices by discontinuing its “Basic” tier just a few months ago.

As a refresher, Netflix raised its prices in March 2022, with the “Basic” plan increasing from $8.99 to $9.99, the “Standard” plan increasing from $13.99 to $15.49, and the “Premium” plan rising from $17.99 to $19.99 per month. A few months later, Netflix introduced its first-ever ad-supported tier priced at $7 per month.

Fast forward (get it?) to June 2023, and Netflix silently discontinued that aforementioned “Basic” plan. This effectively raised Netflix prices by removing the most affordable plan without ads, instead requiring users to pay $15.49 for an ad-free experience.

So without all of that explanation out of the way, where are we now? Well, apparently we’re looking at another round of price increases.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Netflix is planning to increase its prices once the ongoing Hollywood actors strike comes to an end. There’s no word on when the actors strike will end, but the Writers Guild of America announced a tentative deal with studios last week. This prompted the Screen Actors Guild, which has been striking since July, to restart their negotiations.

The report says that Netflix plans to announce the price increases “a few months after” the Hollywood actors strike officially comes to a close. There’s no word on how much of an increase we’ll see this time around. The report does point out, however, that the price increases will start in the United States and Canada, with similar plans in the works for other markets around the world.

As part of the tentative agreement with the Writers Guild of America, Hollywood studios agreed to significant minimum pay increases, protections against the use of AI tools, compensation and guarantees for writers employed at pre-green light development stages, and more. The agreement also includes a new bonus structure, which will see writers paid lucrative bonuses for their most popular shows.

Streaming services are getting more expensive while simultaneously cracking down on password sharing. Last month, Disney announced its plans to start cracking down on password sharing, just like what Netflix recently implemented.

Disney+ and Hulu are also slated to get more expensive starting next week: