Netflix raises rates, irks subscribers

ap ^ | July 13, 2011 | MICHAEL LIEDTKE

[Dacula]

SAN FRANCISCO

[Rum Tum Tugger]

Get Vuze (Google it) and a Tivo Premier.

With Vuze you can access just about anything long before it’s available on DVD or streaming.

Vuze has a utility that will convert your video downloads to a Tivo format that you can download to the Tivo and play on your TV.

BTW, Netflix just shot themselves in the foot. Look for Netflix’s lead on its competition to start eroding quickly.

[balticbeau]

Cancelled my streaming,selection was limited anyway. Going to look at Amazon Prime.

[The Louiswu]

My wife and I are going streaming only. Our local library has a very good selection of movies to choose from is we see something we cannot get on Netflix.

My bet is that Netflix will be laying off folks and closing warehouses as soon as the amount of disc users drops to a given level and they will continue to trend and promote their streaming service rather than send out discs.

[dfwgator]

All the movies I’ve ever wanted to see, I’ve already seen....what’s the point?

[frogjerk]

People pay $500 for iPads and $200 for smartphones and the like but this increase is too much. Huh? They are streaming video to wherever the hell you want to any device for $8 per month! DVDs to your house using regular mail postage paid for $8 a month?

Now that were all hooked like crack addicts on TV the pusher raises their rates and the addict cries foul

[jpsb]

I’d love to be able to get rid of DirectTV but sadly there is nothing in the streaming world to replace it with. :(

[FightThePower!]

Find better things to do with your time other than watching movies.

[SoothingDave]

Whom do you consider to be Netflix’s competition?

Streaming is the future. There are enormous costs involved in handling physical discs.

Just like DVD-by-mail killed the video store, streaming will kill the DVD. Why buy a copy of a movie if I can watch it whenever I want, at home or on my portable device?

[TexasCajun]

Since my DirecTV has first run movies a month before Netflix and On Demand and I have to wait weeks for any new release from Netflix, I'm going to change from $23.00 a month for unlimited video plan to the $ 7.00 for only streaming plan. ...watch new movies on DirecTV pay for view.

How's that affect your bottom-line Netflix?

[Republic of Texas]

I was going to switch from HBO to Netflix because it was less money. Not now.

[Mercat]

I have the streaming and one movie at a time unlimited. So it almost doubles the cost but I use both. I love the streaming and if I canceled anything it would be snail mail but what happens is that I start watching a TV series and just when it gets good, one of the disks can only come through the mail. Also some of the old BBC Shakespeare plays are only available through the mail. I’ll probably end up keeping both. Last week though I was poed because they pulled any access to anything but the first year of Doc Martin.

[Uncle Ike]

” I was poed because they pulled any access to anything but the first year of Doc Martin. “

HULU.com has all three seasons available - no charge.....

[NoNAIS]

While we enjoyed the documentaries, etc - I quit this morning.

60% increase? I’ll save the money Thanks

[tgusa]

We will cancel Netflix soon, about all we get now is old TV series. It’ll be Redbox for us.

[reformedliberal]

We are leaning towards changing the DVD option to 1-at-a-time.
We are keeping streaming, so this keeps our payment the same as before w/2-at-a-time DVDs.

However, we are probably going to totally cancel DVDs as soon as we buy a separate router for the Roku. We can then take the Roku and the router over to the shop and set it up there if we want to watch TV while working. The shop is the main reason for DVDs, anyway. Eventually, we may just splurge for a 2nd Roku and router for the shop, but only if business picks up.

[Sans-Culotte]

The content and quality is not good enough yet, so I’ll probably drop the streaming as well. When “real” HD picture and sound are provided that can replace waiting for a snail mail Blu-Ray - I’ll bite.

That may be what I do as well. When I hooked up my Blu-ray via LAN cable, I thought I'd love the streaming option; but 7 times out of 10 the show I want to watch is not available for streaming. And no, the quality is not near a Blu-ray or even an HD broadcast. Heck, I've got so much stuff I haven't watched on DVD or blu-ray, I may just cancel Netflix for awhile until I get caught up.

[Dacula]

I have veetle and wwiTV. I can watch all of the latest movies and some sports.

I use FireFox and load up on all the tracking blockers that FF offers.

[ConservativeDude]

Jessie Becker, Netflix’s vice president of marketing, wrote Tuesday on Netflix’s blog that charging just $2 more for a bundled plan “neither makes great financial sense nor satisfies people who just want DVDs.””

Wow! I see Jessie is a very loyal employee!

[ctdonath2]

What do you watch?
I’ve relinquished interest in “latest, now” in favor of “whatever I can find in the rather large catalog”. My Netflix streaming queue is as big as my DVD queue, and I have no interest in first-run stuff ‘cuz there’s so much to catch up on that I wanted to see first-run but missed.

Disclaimer: Having 2 toddlers I don’t have much time to watch anything, and when I do it’s either what they want (big catalog of kids’s stuff, commercial free, right now) or some under-60-minutes thing (working thru Top Shot now).

[Tax-chick]

In contrast, I’ll drop the DVD option and keep streaming.

I'll recommend that to my husband once I've seen all the "Midsomer Murders" episodes.

On the other hand, another $6-8 a month ... he spends that in a stop at a coffee shop just because he was 10 minutes early for something.