No one wants to go without Netflix. The streaming service has some of the most buzzed-about original movies and shows, plus a plethora of content from around the world that you can't find anywhere else.
Netflix spends a lot of money to make and license all that content, which is probably why its subscription costs keep rising. CableTV.com did an analysis of the pricing on cable services versus the major streamers for the last decade. Netflix's prices have shot up 89.9%, more than Amazon Prime Video and Hulu combined. Only HBO Max saw a price drop, but that was likely due to the introduction of the $9.99-per-month ad-supported version that launched last year.
The total hike across the board for streaming-service prices since 2012 is 48.9%. Cable went up only 33.84%, but cable TV usage also plummeted, according to Pew Research, so any price increase might be viewed as excessive.
Just in time for the announcement that Netflix is coming up with a scheme to prevent password sharing outside the house of the account owner—which includes added costs—the online gambling reviews website time2play did a survey of 1,523 Americans across all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., to ask how they use Netflix. It came up with the kind of evidence that makes Netflix feel zero guilt about a price increase or password-protection scheme. Forty-four percent of respondents said they use someone else's Netflix—someone they don't even live with. What’s more, the average Netflix account owner shares with up to 2.3 people.
Across the 50 states, the lowest percentage of "streaming swindlers" was in Utah, at 23%; the highest was in Ohio, at 59%. Here's the full map.
Seventy-nine percent of the people "stealing" Netflix via their pals say they won't ever pay. (They'll probably count on their altruistic friend or family to pony up the extra $2.99 for them under Netflix's new price plan—which hasn't even launched in the US as of this writing.) Then again, 76.2% of the payers are accessing some other service than Netflix from a friend as well: It's the modern quid pro quo.
For Netflix's actual paying customers, the breaking point will be when Netflix hits a price of $24.66 per month. At this rate, it won't take long. Netflix has increased prices three times since January 2019. The basic plan is now $9.99 in the US and Canada, but to get high-definition video or multiple screen use/multiple downloads, most pay $15.49 for standard or $19.99 for premium with 4K streaming. That last one comes to $239.88 per year, so please watch more than Is It Cake?
You can read the full report—including numbers on the decline of outright illegal video piracy via torrents and the like—at time2play, and check out the pricing data at CableTV.com.