Netflix hiking prices as it 'ungrandfathers' users

Long-time Netflix customers will soon see a rise in their monthly streaming bill, after the US-based digital media firm confirmed a price hike of £1.50 for users currently ‘grandfathered’ into old pricing.

Users who signed up prior to a price rise in May 2014 were, until now, locked into the £5.99 standard package. A standard package allows a user to watch high definition content on two screens at once.

If a new user were to sign up to the same package today, it would cost £7.49 per month.

“Later this month, members in the UK will begin to be ‘ungrandfathered’,” a spokesperson for the Nasdaq-listed company said.

“Beginning May, the price update is rolling out elsewhere based on member billing periods. Impacted members will be clearly notified by email and within the service, so that they have time to decide which plan [and] price point works best for them.”

Users not happy with the price rise will be able to choose a basic membership, also costing £5.99 per month, with standard definition content on one screen at a time.

A third group of users, who signed up after May 2014 but before the most recent price rise, will remain grandfathered on the £6.99 per month price until at least next October.

The price rise was led last July by Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings, who warned users to expect an increase as it invested more in content.

Netflix pricing varies greatly by region, with a number of users using geoblock circumvention technology to get a cheaper price than in the UK.

The most expensive territory was Denmark, with the standard price being DKR 79 (£8.49) per month, while Colombians enjoyed the same plan for COP 15,700 (£3.59).

Region circumvention comes with a caveat, however, as content varies greatly depending on the local licences held by Netflix.