Netflix’s Silent Price Hike

NETFLIX lost a lot of subscribers due to their announcement to end account sharing, losing two-thirds of their Spanish subscribers and over a million users in the first quarter of 2023. However, profits and revenues are rising again, with the platform gaining 5.9 million more worldwide subscribers between April and June.

Along with this growth come new changes, and the broadcasting giant will be increasing prices for subscriptions. Netflix has scrapped its basic subscription in the US and the UK and introduced Netflix with ads, which began in Spain in February 2023, costing only 5.49 euros a month.

No More Basic Plan

If Spain is next in line for the changes, the basic plan costing 7.99 euros would disappear, and the cheapest option without ads would cost five euros more (12.99 euros) or settle for watching ads. For current users with a Basic account, pricing will remain the same (for now) unless the plan is changed or the account is cancelled.

The company justifies the decision to scrap the cheapest ad-free plan because it believes that “entry prices in these countries… offer great value to consumers.”

Netflix With Ads

Netflix launched their subscription with ads in 2023, with a price that still beat that of a Disney+ subscription. However, by scrapping the basic plan, the broadcasting giant is carrying out a silent price hike.

The ad-supported plan has been a success, and by paying five euros more compared to the current 7.99, an extra subscriber can be added at a reduced price of 5.99 euros in a bid to fight account sharing. Netflix will also profit handsomely from this deal, with a forecasted 1,900 million euros in earnings forecast for 2024.

The company has neither confirmed nor denied that it will take this step in Spain soon, but if the leap to the new pricing strategy works in the US and UK, we may have to prepare ourselves to pay more or put up with the adverts.