Netflix is setting in motion its plan to hike prices around the world.
Streaming bosses have begun to increase the cost of the service in some countries just months after launching a crackdown on users sharing passwords.
The service has already hiked costs in Japan and parts of Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa over the past month and now, the changes are being implemented in Italy and Spain.
In its latest quarterly results, Netflix announced that it had added 5.1 million subscribers between July and September, which was ahead of forecasts but still is the smallest gain in more than a year.
And prices are now being increased as bosses hope to show investors how they will grow as a company in the years to come, as its already massive reach worldwide makes finding new subscribers more difficult.
The service has added more than 45 million new members since last year and has 282 million subscribers globally.
It is also expected that Netflix will expand more into advertising to boost profits in the coming years.
In January, Netflix gave customers on its cheapest ad-free plan an ultimatum: switch to a new tier or lose access.
Affected users had their TV sets taken over with warning messages alerting them that the cut-off date was July 13 as they phased out their cheapest plan.
Netflix is increasing the price of subscriptions across the board and removing the cheapest ad-free option known as Basic, instead offering a “standard service with ads”, which will be the cheapest option available.
The company announced it was doing away with the Basic plan in January, starting with users in Canada and the UK – leaving fans furious.
But, if you want to be part of Netflix now, what are the options available to you in the UK?
In the UK, there are three packages available after the basic plan was scrapped. These can be cancelled at any time and there is no minimum contracts for any of the packages. These are:
Standard with Adverts
This is the cheapest plan at £4.99 and is the package that replaced the original ‘Basic’.
It offers “good” video and sound quality and allows the user to watch on two devices at any one time – this can be on a TV, computer, mobile phone or tablet.
It has adverts, but the website states it’ll be “fewer than you think”.
Standard
The next package up will set you back £10.99
It offers exactly the same as the standard above, only with zero adverts to take you away from your favourite shows.
Premium
This is the most pricey package and costs £17.99 each month. TV shows and films are available in 4D and HDR and is the “best” for video and sound quality.
It is supported on all of the usual devices as above but also offers “immersive” surround sound on some films.
Four people can watch at the same time and downloads can be made on six devices on this package.
This one also has no adverts.
