Netflix Is Raising Its Prices, But Don’t Freak Out

UPDATE: Netflix announced in an email to subscribers today that it will increase its monthly rates from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, but for new members only. Current subscribers will remain at $7.99 for the next two years.

Originally posted April 22: Nothing lasts forever, especially not prices. So it goes with Netflix, which has announced that it will raise its monthly subscriber fees for the first time in three years. In the coming months, the company will increase the flat $7.99 rate by one or two additional dollars.

The good news, however, is that the increase would only immediately affect new subscribers. "Existing members would stay at current pricing for a generous time period," Netflix said in a letter to shareholders. That means, anyone with a current Netflix account in the U.S. will remain on the $7.99 tier for the time being.

The decision comes after Netflix experimented with raising prices for new members in Ireland, where current members were grandfathered in for two years, while new subscribers were asked to pay one more Euro per month. The impact, the company said, was "limited."

Netflix promised shareholders that the higher monthly fees would allow it "to acquire more content and deliver an even better streaming experience."

Translation: More House of Cards. (Wall Street Journal)