Netflix and Streaming Services

Netflix is much costlier in the U.S. than most of the world.

The U.S. ranked as the third or fourth most expensive country for Netflix among basic, standard and premium plans in 2024, based on the price per TV show or movie, according to research firm Comparitech.

In terms of price per month, the U.S. also ranked among the top three or four most expensive countries, along with Denmark, Switzerland and Lichtenstein, Comparitech said.

In January, Netflix raised its prices after it reported a record jump in subscribers.

Its cheapest plan with ads will go from $6.99 to $7.99 per month and the standard ad-free tier will go from $15.49 to $17.99.

Netflix's highest-priced premium tier is also going up from $22.99 to $24.99 per month.

Comfortable atop the video streaming playing field, Netflix is now pivoting towards gamers. Without much ballyhoo, it’s acquired a number of studios over the past couple of years – studios that Netflix could use to develop games that line up with its exclusive content.

Feeling its oats, Netflix’s game lineup now totals more than 70 different titles for the members of its ad-free tier. Coming soon, subscribers to that tier can dive into games based on streaming hits like “Squid Game” and “Wednesday,” as well as the Netflix Stories app — a collection of interactive narrative games that the company is building out.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix has plans to up its game even further, and has discussed a licensing deal that would allow it to release a game based on “Grand Theft Auto.” 

But can a company whose stock and trade are movies take on Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft and get gamers to move away from their PS2’s and X-Box’es and become “something for everyone” as it recently claimed? 

It could take a while, Jacqueline Corbelli, founder and CEO at BrightLine, a company that delivers ads for major streamers such as Disney and Hulu, told ConsumerAffairs.

“While Netflix's venture into gaming promises exciting possibilities, the challenges of adapting gaming technology from mobile and desktop platforms to TV streaming are considerable,” Corbelli said.

Can Netflix deliver what games require?

The biggest hurdles Corbelli sees Netflix having to address will be issues like latency -- the lag or delay you might see in the stream -- and complexity in creating seamless gaming experiences on TV.

In other words, Netflix is going to have to crawl before it walks and start with more casual games until TV technologies catch up more broadly to deliver more story-driven experiences to viewers, which will take more time.

“This move can be seen as a way to diversify their services, appealing to a wider audience,” Corbelli said, a feeling seconded by Yaroslav Melnyk, co-founder and CEO at kudos.tv.

“I think that their angle of reaching out to casual gamers or non-gamers is a smart play. It feels like a doorway for many to step into the gaming realm, which, in my view, is a positive ripple,” Melnyk contends.

However, both Melnyk and Corbelli think that capturing the attention of avid gamers might require more than just the casual gaming experience Netflix is serving up. 

“It will take a considerable amount of time and most importantly, investment in the evolution of TV streaming technologies before Netflix will be in the business of attracting serious gamers. TV streaming apps just cannot support that type of experience at this stage,” Corbelli said. 

“[However], transitioning some of their iconic movie titles into games, as they already announced, could be a strategy to spark interest among the dedicated gaming demographic and provide some short-term gains for their ‘new’ platform,” Melnyk added.

Release the hounds!

Will other streamers follow suit Netflix’s move? “It's possible. The gaming world has its appeal,” Kristoffer Thun, IT professional and gaming enthusiast, told ConsumerAffairs.

“On the upside, game streaming offers flexibility and accessibility.” The downside? Thun agrees with Corbelli that potential lag and ensuring quality can be challenges.

“It will be a nifty bonus for subscribers, but there's a feeling that maybe Netflix is charting unknown waters without a clear map,” he said.

As for the future of streamers developing gaming platforms, it’s likely going to be a wait-and-see situation. Apptopia reports that Netflix games have been downloaded 70.5 million times globally as of Sept. 20, but that’s less than 1% of Netflix’s 238 million subscribers who are playing Netflix’s games daily.

Not too many companies are going to be drooling over numbers like that – and the fact that the uphill climb will be long and hard for anyone who wants to reach the 400 million legions that games like “Candy Crush Saga” rule. 

However, competing at that level may not be Netflix’ goal. Thun contends that Netflix’ move could release the proverbial hounds and we could be looking at more variety and perhaps it simply wants a broader audience.

“But the key will be delivering a seamless experience. If streamers can nail that, they're on the right track,” he said.

If you have a Netflix account and share it with anyone who doesn’t live in your household, be prepared to face the music and pay up. The company has begun sending out emails to members who share Netflix accounts with friends and family who don’t live at the same address.

“A Netflix account is for use by one household,” the company said in the emails it’s sending infringers. “Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday — and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices.”

“We recognize that our members have many entertainment choices. It’s why we continue to invest heavily in a wide variety of new films and TV shows — so whatever your taste, mood or language and whoever you’re watching with, there’s always something satisfying to watch on Netflix.”

Going forward, these are the options

From here on, Netflix account holders have two choices if they want to share their account: “buy” an upgrade for the other person for $7.99/mo., or tell that account-sharer to transfer their profile to an account of their own.

If you don’t know who the freeloaders are on your account, you should check what devices are listed on the account, sign out of the ones that shouldn’t have access, then change your password. Here’s a video explaining how to remove the extra devices.

For everyone who feared that the streaming service landscape would eventually be littered with advertisements, the earth moved another couple of inches in that direction last week.

Leading the concerns is Disney+. It’s only been a half year since Disney+ raised its ad-free subscription price, but its latest subscription totals have hit the wall.

The company now has 4 million fewer subscribers, but as the company frames the narrative, that’s okay. The Mouse’s spreadsheet shows that it’s actually closer to profitability because its losses are down 26% year over year. CEO Bob Iger likes what he sees so much that he’s indicated that Disney+ will raise prices again for its ad-free option before the year’s out.

Disney also announced last week that it'll start piping content from Hulu into its Disney+ app later this year. 

Ads are where it’s at

“The sad truth is that viewers who watch ads are better for business than those who don't. Commercial-free TV will become more of a luxury as a result,” says TechHive’s Jared Newman. In other words, consumers better start getting comfortable with ads, because they'll have to pay through the nose to avoid them.

Newman looked all the way back to 2019 to find out how we got here. It all began with Hulu which was the first to figure out that it could carry more money to the bank from ad-supported viewers than ad-free ones.

Even though the ad-supported customers paid less, the company made tons more simply because of all the money it made serving ads to those customers.

Eventually, that same light bulb lit up at Netflix. It too, says that its $6.99-per-month plan with ads brings in more money per subscriber than its standard $15.49/mo. plan in the U.S.

Others want more money, too, whether it’s from ad-free or ads-on options. HBO Max – er, make that just “Max” – is in the with-ads world too, and recently raised its monthly price by a dollar. A dollar might not sound like much, but it can add tens of millions a month to the company’s checking account.

Will Disney+ follow? Newman says it hasn’t shown its hand in that regard, yet. However, on a recent earnings call, Iger said his company’s last hike had “proven successful,” and that the next one will “better reflect the value of our content offerings.” 

Read those tea leaves as you like.

Tom and Charlotte rule the world

Reelgood – a streaming aggregator and app recommended earlier in ConsumerAffairs feature about streaming services – tells ConsumerAffairs that its eyeball-driven Top 10 is packed with new favorites this week. Tom Hanks’ comedy-drama movie A Man Called Otto and original show Queen Charlotte – both on Netflix – secured their place among the most popular titles this week, along with AppleTV+’s Silo at number three.

The entire Top 10 streaming shows go like this:

A Man Called Otto (Netflix)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

Jury Duty (available on Amazon's freevee)

Silo (on AppleTV+)

Queen Charlotte (Netflix)

Ghosted (on AppleTV+)

Succession (HBOMax)

Citadel (PrimeVideo)

Scream VI (Paramount+), and

Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)