Olivia Cipperman ’19: Netflix, the world’s leading streaming company for movies and television shows, has recently released that it will be raising its subscription prices in mid-2016. Netflix announced through email earlier this year, “In order to continue adding more movies and TV shows, we are increasing our price from $7.99 to $8.99 for new members. Even though this is not going to be in affect in the near future, the topic has been raising questions about Netflix’s motives. According to Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings, the increase in price will help Netflix “to acquire and offer high quality content,” especially when it comes to movies.
Of its 69 million members worldwide, Global Web Index notes that Netflix is most popular in the 16-24 age demographic in the United States, as many teenagers use Netflix as a primary source for television shows and movies. Episcopal high schoolers are a part of this age group. When asked why they believed Netflix will be raising their prices, students had a variety of things to say. Kevin Foster ‘18 stated, “They’re buying too many movies and the price is really low right now.” Elom Vedomey ‘19 suggested a different reason for the price raise, stating that Netflix, “seems to be becoming more popular, so maybe that’s why.”
Photo courtesy of McKee Bond ’19
The reaction to the price raise has been one of overwhelming dismay, and EA students have expressed their disappointment in interviews. If they wish to continue to use Netflix, they will have to procure the extra money in some way. Skyler Schork ‘18 stated, “I don’t have to pay, my parents do, but if I had to pay it would be kind of annoying.” Phoebe Barr ‘19 mentioned that if the price goes up by, “only a few dollars I guess it’s okay, good for the company, but I don’t want them to raise it a huge amount.” The majority of EA freshmen and sophomores agreed with these statements, but it is also true that some students, especially upperclassmen, pay for their own Netflix accounts and have limited budgets. The price raise, as inconsequential as it may seem, has the potential to cut certain students off from Netflix and the media it presents as a result. Kevin Foster ‘18 sums up the community opinion, stating that he is “not happy at all” with the price raise.
Luckily for Netflix users, the subscription price is only predicted to go up by a few dollars at most. Netflix is not the only service for streaming movies and television shows, either. Companies such as Hulu display a similar range of content. Elom Vedomey ‘19 is one such user of an alternate service, explaining that, “I personally don’t have Netflix. I enjoy Hulu.”
No matter what one’s stance on the situation is, it is worth knowing that Netflix will be raising their prices. Being a major movie and television streaming service today, Netflix supplies people with content which they might not be able to see otherwise. Sandy Warchol ‘18 commented on Netflix’s increase in popularity over the last few years especially noting, “Now that everyone’s hooked they [Netflix] can raise their prices. The more people want it, the more they’re going to charge. It’s like supply and demand.”