We all enjoy kicking back after a hard day at work and watching the latest shows and films to drop on Netflix, but it’s becoming more expensive every year as streaming prices rise. That’s going to happen again, as Netflix plans to raise the price of its ad-free plan soon.
Currently you have to pay £10.99 per month if you want to watch Netflix without ads after the company removed its £6.99 Basic plan from the UK market in July. The cheapest UK subscription costs £4.99, but you have to put up with pesky adverts during those boxset binges.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix will first lift the cost of streaming in the US and Canada, before likely jacking things up to other markets – which could include the UK. It’s not clear how much the price will rise, but it’s in line with streaming getting more costly as the years go by.
When Netflix first launched in the UK back in 2012 it cost just £5.99 per month to stream as much as you wanted with no ads. In order to keep profitable in the face of big competition, Netflix either wants you to watch ads on its cheap plan – which makes the firm money through the ads – or pay a higher price to watch without ads.
Disney+ launched in 2020 and cost £5.99, which has since risen to £7.99 per month and is about to go up to £10.99. Amazon Prime costs £8.99 per month these days, but that gets you free one day shipping on Amazon and other benefits as well as Amazon Prime Video.
But with all your favourite TV shows, movies, and sports spread across several different paid-for apps and services, it’s getting more and more expensive each year, as Brits watch traditional terrestrial television even less.
This rumour of yet another Netflix price rise appears to be tied up with the recent Hollywood writers and actors strike. The writer strike is over, but the actor one continues, and it looks like Netflix will wait till everyone is back and working before jacking up its costs.
A new deal will mean Netflix and all the other big streaming companies will have to share their treasure troves of data with writers, who will be able to see how well their shows have done, as well as new rules that mean they are paid better than ever – but that rising cost for Netflix and the others looks like it will fall back on you, the customer.
