Netflix Raising Rates, No Longer Combining DVD’s And Streaming

Over the past couple of years, I have touted my love of the Netflix service. It was cheap, it was easy, and I had thousands of movies to watch via the streaming service through my X-Box. I can think of at least 2 rate-hikes that have happened over that time that I wasn't happy about, but I still pay less than $10 a month. This morning I saw this story from MSNBC claiming that Netflix is now planning to nearly double the price of what I get now.

Sure enough, a press release from Netflix says that they are no longer combining the plans that ship DVDs to your house and allow you to stream programming over the internet. My $8.99 bill will go up to $15.98 every month starting in September.

With this change, Netflix will no longer be offering unlimited plans that include both streaming and DVDs by mail. The unlimited streaming plan will remain at $7.99 a month. The price for getting both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99).

Yes, $15.98 per month is still a pretty good deal for as many movies and TV shows as I could possibly watch...but it is the principle of that matter! Its tough for us as consumers to swallow the idea that we'll be paying more money for the exact same thing we get right now.

Thousands of Netflix "fans" took to the Netflix Facebook page to voice their displeasure, many of them threatening to discontinue their service for other options such as; Crackle, Hulu Plus, Apple TV, Google TV, Amazon Instant Video and even Blockbuster. The comment count right now on Netflix's post about the price change is up to over 27,000 and nearly all of them are negative.

I am assuming the move is to make more money, and to make it easier to completely drop the physical DVD side of their business in the coming years, but I'm still not happy about it.

For new Netflix members, the changes will be effective immediately. For existing members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1st.

Will this cause you to change or cancel your Netflix service? It will certainly have me looking into it. What other streaming service do you (or will you) use for TV and movies?

[MSNBC]

[Netflix]