Netflix is raising the prices of its most popular streaming plans for U.K. subscribers. The rate hikes come after Netflix has implemented similar increases in the U.S. and parts of Latin America earlier this year.
For U.K. members, the monthly subscription rate for its Standard plans, which provides up to HD simultaneous streams per account, is rising from £7.99 to £8.99, up 12.5%, while the Premium plan (for up to four Ultra HD streams) is increasing 20%, from £9.99 to £11.99. However, Netflix’s Basic plan, which provides standard-definition streaming on one device, remains the same at £5.99.
The new prices take effect immediately for new subscribers in the United Kingdom and will roll out to existing users in the coming weeks, Netflix said Thursday. Existing members will be notified by email, as well as within the Netflix app a month before the new prices are applied to them.
“We change our prices from time to time to reflect the significant investments we’ve made in new TV shows and films, as well as improvements to our product,” a company rep said in a statement to Variety. Netflix also pointed out that the pricing of the Basic plan remains unchanged.
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Netflix says has more than 50 productions under way in the U.K., including new seasons of dystopian sci-fi anthology series “Black Mirror”; offbeat comedy “Sex Education,” created by first-time British writer Laurie Nunn; Ricky Gervais’ “After Life”; and “Top Boy,” a drama set in the housing projects of East London.
According to the company, the U.K. is one of its top three locations for production in the world, after the U.S. and Canada. The number of British shows and movies on Netflix has risen from 595 to 747 over the last two years, according to a report released this week by U.K. regulatory agency Ofcom.
Per the Ofcom report, prepared by research firm Ampere Analysis, Netflix generated an estimated $875 million (£693 million) last year in the U.K. — more than the streaming services of the country’s five traditional broadcasters own streaming services combined. The report estimates that Netflix had 10 million subscribers in the U.K. at the end of last year while Amazon Prime Video had 7.7 million in the country.
Under Netflix’s similar price hike for all customers in the U.S., which began rolling out in the first quarter of this year, the Standard plan rose from $10.99 to $12.99 per month; the Premium plan increased from $13.99 to $15.99 per month; and the Basic plan increased for the first time, from $7.99 to $8.99 per month. In reporting Q1 results, Netflix said the effect of the price increase in the U.S. was tracking similarly to Canada after raising rates there in Q4 of 2018, where it saw “some modest short-term churn effect.”
Pictured above: Miley Cyrus in “Black Mirror” season 5, premiering June 5 on Netflix worldwide.