In a move that might reflect Netflix's ongoing desire to push its subscribers exclusively in a streaming direction, the company has announced that its cheapest plan that included both DVD rentals and internet streaming would be split in two, and that subscribers who are still interested in getting both DVDs and streams would have to pay for both separately. Previously, the cheapest plan that offered both services was a $9.99 plan that offered both unlimited streaming and a single DVD rental at a time; now, you'll be asked to pay $7.99 for unlimited streaming and $7.99 for that single DVD, resulting in a new base price of $15.98 for the service. (Not including the surcharge for Blu-Ray rentals.)
Netflix pays a lot for the rights to stream movies, but it's still a lot cheaper for them to stream than it is to deal in DVDs: no cost to purchase the DVD, no need to store them, no need to pay shipping, etc. (Netflix is still the USPS' #1 customer, shelling out over half a billion dollars a year to them.) That said, $16 bucks a month for unlimited streaming and six or seven DVD rentals is still a ridiculously good deal, especially if you compare it to the heyday of the Blockbuster semi-monopoly. The question is whether or not people are going to be willing to continue paying the extra six bucks for DVD rentals, or if they'll simply skip them and head straight to the streaming package. Netflix's spin is that this is a way for people who don't want to or can't stream movies to save a couple of dollars, which I suppose is true, and even though I want to say something like "but those kind of people must be rare," I'm betting that it's not an insignificant portion of Netflix's business.
Oddly enough, our ridiculous work package, where we get unlimited streaming and eight DVDs a month, is actually being cut in price by around five bucks a month when these new plans start up. (New memberships will see the new pricing immediately; everyone else will be shifted over starting on September 1st.) So it's a win-win situation for us, but what about you? You can check out the new pricing plans on Netflix's Account section; are you going to be paying more, or less, or will you simply drop part of your plan?
I bet somewhere The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is lying around, unwatched.
It'll end up costing me more, since they're trying to segment dvds and streaming services
I'll be dropping my dvd plan and just going instant streaming. I don't watch enough movie that I need something the day it's out on dvd. I should probably watch that Summer Wars disc I have lying around.
@Artie: Well, its our work account. We need a lot of DVDs for video segments.
That copy of batman sat on my desk for about 8 months and I decided it was time
@Artie: I don't have a personal account anymore; I just use the office one for home streaming and the like, since it's almost all work-related. Netflix has account settings for "one big plan" with all the DVDs and Streaming in there put together. If they offered a ten-DVD plan I'd probably go for it, but I'm sure the eight DVD plan is probably a fairly niche part of their business as it is.
I plan on downgrading to the streaming only. I rarely watch discs anymore and if there is something that I really want to see I can just stop by one of the dozen Redbox kiosks around my town.
@mfpantst: It's 56+ tax now and it'll go down to 52+tax after the change is implemented.
Did this just get announced today? I guess I should be expecting an email from them in my inbox when I get home.
Hmmm...I'm on the streaming + 1 DVD plan right now. I might switch to the just streaming, since that's where I do most of my movie/TV watching anyways. I probably end up only watching 2 or so physical DVDs a month, on average. If Netflix keeps up the good selection in their streaming library, and gets new content at a reasonable rate, I can see myself being happy with that plan (especially since my instant queue is already bursting with unwatched content at the moment anyways).
Well, I will be doing both ... Netflix mailing was basically relegated to TV shows on DVD and some of the older movies that won't see streaming and Netflix streaming is for random movies. I use Redbox for everything new.