Netflix Price Increase: Streaming Service Raises Cost Of Popular Subscription Plan

The company’s web site shows today that it raised the monthly price for its Standard streaming service by $1 to $9.99 for new subscribers in the USA, Canada, and a few Latin American countries.

The premium plan, which offers up to four simultaneous streams with the same login and ultra high definition 4K content, also holds steady at $11.99 monthly.

But if you’re one of Netflix’s millions of USA subscribers, don’t worry: You won’t see a price increase for at least a few months.

Those who are already paying $8.99 per month will retain that price for 12 months, according to Variety.

The increase will generate an extra $750m a year in revenue for the streaming pioneer, which will be used to cover the cost of Netflix’s ever-increasing array of original content.

Netflix has quickly become an entertainment powerhouse thanks to original shows like “Orange is the New Black”, “House of Cards” and countless others.

The one-dollar raise affects new subscribers in the United States, Canada and Latin America right away.

It seems that Netflix isn’t letting existing customers keep their lower prices for as long it did with the last price increase.

Investors bumped up Netflix stock on the news, first reported by Bloomberg.

Netflix said that in order to continue offering new programming, it needed to increase its prices slightly.

If you signed up for Netflix on October 10th of previous year, for example, you’ll have a price increase at your billing date this month.

Already with more than 65 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix plans to complete its global expansion plans by the end of 2016. Many like to think of Netflix as an alternative to Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime, but Netflix has grown past that.