Netflix increases subscription fees in select countries, is PH included?

Netflix has raised its subscription fees in selected countries despite a rise in customer base and an effective crackdown on password-sharing.

Netflix file photo

Is the PH affected by the increase?

The streaming platform announced this move in its third-quarter earnings report. It noted this will only be in select countries. There is no word if the Philippines will be affected yet.

Specifically, the premium ad-free plan in the United States will increase by USD 3 per month, to USD 22.99 (around PHP 1,307), which started Wednesday. The one-stream basic plan will also increase to USD11.99 (around PHP 682) in the same country. All other plans will remain the same.

Some subscription fees will also increase in the United Kingdom and France.

The streaming giant reported a 9 percent year-on-year increase in average paid memberships, adding 8.8 million subscribers last quarter. The company logged 247 million paid global subscribers in the third quarter.

Netflix attributed some of its subscriber growth to its continued crackdown on password-sharing.

It has officially rolled out the "paid sharing" program. This resulted in fewer customers canceling their memberships than expected, and many who previously borrowed passwords were even converted to full-paying users.

Aside from subscriber growth, Netflix also noted continued growth in its advertising tier plans. It logged a 70 percent increase in membership versus the previous quarter.

The company brought in USD 8.54 billion (around PHP 485 billion) in revenue last quarter driven by higher-than-expected growth of its membership base.

The platform last raised prices in January 2022.

Netflix in a letter to its shareholders called the last six months "challenging" due to the summer's writers' guild and actors' guild strikes. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company is "totally committed" to ending the actors' strike after an agreement with the Writers' Guild was reached last month.

Talks between SAG-AFTRA, which represents the actors, and the studios were suspended after the two sides disagreed about SAG-AFTRA’s latest proposal.

Co-CEOs Sarandos and Greg Peters also stressed Netflix's investments in newer business areas, like gaming and sports content, to attract new subscribers.

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Via: CNN