The time has come.
Longtime Netflix customers start joining newcomers in paying $9.99 for its most popular standard plan in May. (That's then one where you can stream two shows at once in HD.)
Netflix announced in May 2014 that it was raising prices for new customers from $7.99 to $8.99, but existing customers wouldn't have to worry about paying any new amount for two years -- until May 2016. Since then, however, Netflix has increased the price of its most popular plan once more, to $9.99.
In a quarterly letter to shareholders, the company stated that the increase would affect existing customers "in Q2 and Q3," which falls between April and the end of September. A UBS report found the change would affect about 17 million of Netflix's U.S. subscribers. The report noted that 3-4 percent of users might cancel their subscriptions due to the price hike.
Pricing for the premium plan is not changing, and there will still be a $7.99 option for those who wish to settle for standard definition for only one stream at a time.
Netflix stated in its letter that it planned to offer 600 hours -- or a solid 25 days -- of original programming this year, up from 450 hours in 2015. That's about 30 new seasons for its original programs, 35 new seasons of kids' shows, eight feature films, a dozen documentaries and nine standup comedy specials.
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