Placing an emphasis on audience growth and retention, the streaming giant announced major changes — but users in North America aren’t getting a break.
This week, Netflix is preparing to slash the prices of subscriptions for its overseas audience. According to Variety, the streaming platform will decrease monthly subscription payments for over three dozen countries worldwide, with select deductions being as much as half of the current monthly costs. In addition to North America, however, nations in western Europe also won’t benefit from this announcement.
As to the scale of the changes, Variety used Venezuela for comparison’s sake:
- In the South American state, a single-stream Basic plan is now $3.99 a month, half off from the original $7.99 price
- For a two-stream Standard plan that was once $10.99, it is now $5.99 a month.
- Finally, the four-stream Premium tier will now set viewers back $7.99 a month instead of $13.99.
Variety also notes that in the Philippines, Basic went from ₱369 to ₱249 a month and Standard is now ₱459, down from ₱399 a month.
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On an earnings call last month, new Netflix CEO Greg Peters teased a price drop, justifying the decision by claiming it would help incentivize new customers to sign up as members in markets where the company doesn’t have the same footprint as it does in places like the US.
“When you think about the pricing question… we want to make that spectrum even wider as we seek to serve more members around the world in trying to deliver appropriate value at those different price points,” Peters said. “And we’re doing a good job expanding that range… There’s a bunch of people around the world in countries where we’re not deeply penetrated, and we have more opportunities to go attract them.”
This is just one of the many decisions made by Netflix to revamp user experience. In November, they unveiled an ad-supported plan in 12 countries, including France, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK, and the US. Much to everyone’s chagrin, they also outlined stricter guidelines to reduce password sharing among different households. Moving forward, main holders will have to select a “primary location” for their account, in addition to an amended “Manage Access and Devices” page that outlines who has access to their accounts.
There’s plenty to look forward to on Netflix as the year continues, though. On Friday, season five of the breakout favorite docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive dropped. Taking on a similar format, a dedicated docuseries centered around La Liga, Spain’s top-flight soccer league, is also in the works.
Also recently announced is a new documentary series starring Patrick Mahomes, Marcus Mariota, and Kirk Cousins that will air in summer 2023. Aptly named Quarterback, viewers will be treated to an inside look at the three NFL signal-callers’ lives during the 2022 campaign, culminating with Feb. 12’s Super Bowl LVII win for Mahomes and the Chiefs.
From cost changes to limits on account-sharing, Netflix’s changes might be controversial — but one thing that’s not changing as winter gives way to spring is that the brand’s ambitious plans with regards to delivering original content are as speedy as a Red Bull RB19 on a DRS straightaway.
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