Is Netflix Testing a U.S. $7.99 Per Month Streaming-Only Plan?

RUMOR: A reliable source tipped me off that Netflix is testing a U.S. $7.99 per month streaming-only plan, and for $2 per month more the plan adds 1 DVD out at-a-time. Netflix already offers a $8.99 unlimited streaming plus 1 DVD out at-a-time plan, so the pricing seems strange, but Netflix does price testing from time to time. Netflix recently launched a $7.99 per month Canadian streaming-only service, so the pricing seems about right with the exchange rate. 

Netflix also offers a limited $7.99 streaming-only plan for Starz Play, with no DVDs:

Has anyone been offered a Netflix $7.99 per month streaming-only plan? Would you be interested in subscribing to a streaming-only account?

Comments

[Crow550]

Nope.

There will always be content you can only get on disc and it's not going to change for quite awhile.

I always watch the discs I get. So I do still find them very useful. Plus Blu-Ray is the only way to watch the highest quality 1080P & uncompressed audio.

So disc rentals are a must for me.

[prospect]

It's not worth saving $1 per month. There's always some DVD out there that I could watch.

[gonzo90017]

It's not really worth it to save only $1 a month. If it was $2 less I would get it.

[Rob H]

If it's Starz Play streaming only (as that image suggests), then no thanks. Who in their right mind would pay $1 less than the current unlimited streaming + 1 DVD plan for that? Starz Play streaming titles are of the lowest visual quality Netflix has to offer. I usually skip SP titles altogether because I know what I'm in for.

I pray that this doesn't happen, because I have a bad feeling this will push a SP streaming + 1 DVD option to $9.99 and the unlimited streaming of everything else + 1 DVD to $11 or more.

[Mike]

If the entire catalog was available on IW I would consider a streaming only plan, until that time no thanks.

[Mike]

To add:
The Epix content that Netflix spent $1 billion on is a disappointment, most of the titles suck(where's Indiana Jones and James Bond?) and are in SD.

Get the entire catalog in 720p/5.1 and I will sign up for a streaming only plan.

[Shellie C.]

I would love to have a streaming only plan! I love the selection, however, I do wish every movie was available via instant watch.

[Fred]

They would have to lower the price from $7.99 to get me to switch to a streaming only plan as it's worth the extra dollar to get a DVD.

[Kory]

Anyone who buys the 1-2 dollar one is just nickel and diming their budget. If you choose the cheaper one because it's 2 dollars cheaper, I don't think you should even have Netflix if you can not afford 2 more dollars for a much broader content selection. Doubt this will be remotely popular.

[crazyflixer]

Kory, while true, it is still $1-2 in savings. I understand it is not much, but for me i would prob drop to it if i feel the need if im really busy working on a movie someplace , and don't need to worry about a dvd in the mail. or if i just want to save $1-2 because I may have other bills, and with those I may also be cutting corners to save a few $$ which in time adds up to more money i save, and could be used for other things.

[FearNo1]

It should be cheaper. The streaming only plan should be $6 or $7 max. The content would have to be in HD and 5.1 sound too.

[Todd]

Count me as yes. The discs just collect dust here. Love the streaming.

[TigerT]

Any streaming only plan should come with a limit on the number of titles you can stream per month, otherwise, you risk damaging the core subscription tiers by enticing current subscribers to drop to the lowest priced one.

[timberland boot]

Totally realize what your stance in this issue. Although I'd disagree on some of the finer details, I believe you do an awesome job explaining it.

[S]

After Reed's "Americans" comment: "Give us 7.99 streaming! We want Canada prices! LOUD NOISES"

When rumors hit that Netflix may do just that: "Meh. Not worth it."

You can lead a horse to water...

[Neek]

I costs a dollar to ship a dvd each time for Netflix. Cut the streaming only to 5.99 a month and see if the numbers work. That would get a lot of extra customers signed up. You may have some switch down at the 8.99 rate who don't care as much about dvds--but then, if Netflix doesn't ship 3 dvds to them a month they're in the black.
Considering the possible extra costs of postage in the future, and no service Saturday AND the overhead costs of purchasing dvds, replacing them, and hiring people to do all the work involved, a 5.99 plan would be an incredible gain and solidify Netflix's status at #1 in the game. The biggest reason I won't do Hulu, or Amazon, Cinemanow or HBO plans is they're so much more expensive than Netflix.
I'd rather pay 5.99 a month to stream a large collection anytime I want and rent a dvd occassionally from Redbox when I really really really want to see something.

[Gran]

"I do wish every movie was available via instant watch."

I bet you do

[prospect]

@S - of course you're making the mistake of suggesting that it's the same people in both cases. Obviously some people will be interested and some won't. Personally I don't see why there'd be a huge uproar over $1/month - I think it was more his "Americans don't pay attention" that caused all the noise.
@TigerT - but if subscribers drop to a plan where they pay $1 less and it saves Netflix more than $1 per subscriber than they come out ahead.

[Randy Kitchens]

I watch IW almost exclusively. Many (not all) titles at the top of my DVD queue stay in a long or very long wait status. When a DVD comes in, it's often lower in priority than many in my IW queue. Sometimes,Ive lost interest in it altogether. But I'm focused on my IW queue. So I send the DVD back without viewing. (I recently misplaced an unopened envelope for two weeks!) In a pinch I'll watch newer releases through RedBox (gasp). In any case, Netflix still pays $1 every time they send me a DVD. There's no way to bypass automatic without placing the entire account on vacation mode. IW gets disabled. Netflix can save a lot of money if they just find a way to manipulate the DVD queue without disabling IW. I'd even pay $1 more for that, though fairness and good faith would drop the monthly a few dollars. Win-win. Come on, Reed!

[scJohn]

I do not think I have even streamed 12 titles. I had no use at all for streaming until they started HD streaming this year to the PC. I am not really interested in streaming SD to my HDTV. I will stream HD/5.1 to my HDTV. AS we all know the HD selection is still pretty small when it comes to streaming.

Why does NF even license SD content when 50% of households have a HDTV. I'll bet the percentage is even higher for NF subscribers.

From an investor perspective, the troubling aspect is that the revenue per subscriber keeps falling because the $8.99 member is becoming a bigger piece of the pie. This is what caused the big price drop when the announced the Q2 earnings. It will be interesting with Q3 earnings coming in about 2 weeks. How profitable are these $8.99 members compared to the other levels? On a per title basis, is a streaming license cheaper than the physical media price? Hasting has admitted that he is surprised at the cost of streaming rights. Hasting's keeps throwing out that it costs a nickle to stream a movie ( I have doubts that the average is that low) without every saying what the cost of the title is.

[A Movie A Day (A.M.A.D.)]

A Starz Play streaming only plan doesn't sound great. With the lack of the volume of titles that the EpixHD deal and the 28 day window provides, this isn't a deal that would garner any takers, in my opinion.

Now, a $7.99 Watch Instantly program that allows access to all the titles, that's a good idea, a Starz Play only plan, not so.

[alan]

we have had netflix since march and never ordered a dvd yet satisfied with streaming.
but that is our choice.

[Joe]

Streaming is weak. There are nowhere near the number and selection of titles that make it worth it to me as anything more than an add-on to the discs I get (3 @ a time).

[Scott]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that, unlike the 2-3-4 disc plans, the $8.99 1-out plan only permits streaming on one device at a time. If a $7.99 streaming-only plan would permit multiple people in a household to watch different programs at the same time, that could be a bigger advantage than the one dollar savings.

[Perkins Cobb]

Starz only -- that's hilarious. Not that any of their streaming is really worth paying for, but still.

[mtouchto]

Whoever said that the $8.99 plan limits streaming to one device at a time is wrong. The limited plan of $4.99 has some severe limits, but the premium $8.99 plan has no more limits on instant watch than the 2 and 3 at a time plans.

[alan]

instantwatcher.com

[Abou]

The $8.99 plan does not limit streaming to one device at a time. It is part of the premium plans and is unlimited. It seems that some of the people writing in are mistaken about the 1 at a time DVD monthly plan. It too is unlimited, that is, you are not limited to 1 DVD a month, but just one at a time. The limitations I think Scott is talking about may be with the discounted 1 DVD at a time $4.99 plan. It is severely limited in several respects.

[Rad]

What they need to do is stop charging extra for BluRay movies.

[Mela]

I like getting a disc. I can't watch True Blood instantly, and I've been meaning to check it out. I definitely watch more streaming titles than blu-ray titles, but I still like the option.

[Jack Johnson]

its is NOT just Starz. It is everything that is currently is available for streaming. It is extremely similar to Canada's plan. Its the next step towards streaming only.

[CJ]

Yes I'm interested. I believe in what's called unbundled pricing. To me DVD by mail rentals and Instant Watch streaming are two different services that just happen to be provided by the same company (Netflix). I would prefer to pay a separate price for the unlimited streaming, perhaps with pricing tiers depending on number of devices connected. Then I'd like to pay a second price for DVDs rented, with pricing tiers for number of DVDs out at a time.

I figure eventually Netflix will have the above pricing structure. I'm curious to see how they do the unbundling of services.

[Andrew]

I use the streaming and DVD's together. To me the streaming is not that good alone. Especially with the quality of some of the movies. I do enjoy watching several of the TV shows though.

[PatB]

I am in a splinter market - opera movies. I don't suppose that my preferences count much in a mass market but maybe there are other splinters that add up to some total that is worth considering. I rent opera DVDs.

I watch typical American male action, adventure, sci-fi movies. For this sort of thing Watch Instantly is almost good enough right now for me to to drop the US Mail delivery of DVDs. But not quite. For example last night I watched on Blu-ray "Iron Man 2". Then I watched "Iron Man" on Roku. The older film looked pretty good considering that it wasn't in HD. The Blu-ray disk of the new movie looked much better but as far as I could determine it had no story - just character background incidents to lay the groundwork for the Iron Man 3.

In general I will always want to see new spectacular films in Blu-ray (e.g. "Prince of Persia"). I tend to only rent opera DVDs. To date Watch Instantly has no full length opera films (e.g. Lohengrin) but there are many in the NetFlix DVD library.

Watch Instantly has a lot of the new Korean movies. There was a time when I had to travel to Japantown to see Samurai movies and to Chinatown to see Kung Fu movies. Now if I want to see a Korean movie I click onto Roku and watch NF WI.

There are three venues on NetFlix. Blu-rays by mail for the best image and sound. DVDs by mail for specialized tastes and Watch Instantly for mainstream movie and TV watching.

[Keiko]

Will always want DVD option for two reasons: (1) Most of my queue is available by DVD only.
(2) Streaming does not provide the opportunity to watch special features, like deleted scenes and commentary.

[Seth]

Consider that some customers new to Netflix will buy a device that has streaming built-in. Streaming only may make sense for some these customers.

[Brian]

I was looking at re-joining and was offered a free trial with streaming and for $1 more, I could get unlimited DVDs through the mail (one at a time).

[Tom]

Why anyone would pay a seperate price for streaming ($7.99) when you can have everything for $8.99. That's like asking someone if they want a crappy hotel room for $20.00 or a suite for $21.00.

Now, I would pay $25.00 per month if they streamed everything and I mean everything (new releases, TV shows, series etc.)in HD/5.1.

[JP]

Been testing streaming using Roku. I could never pay for this as it screws up on a regular basis. When I can be guaranteed a connection streaming that I get with cable, I might consider paying for streaming.

If Netflix gives up DVDs...then I want my money back for buying Roku as never told to use it...would require a subscription in the future. That's $100 I could use right now.

Advice to Netflix...keep it as it is. Dvd and free streaming (with the DVD subscription)...at least the DVDs work all the time...I cannot say that about the streaming.

Like buying a car and not knowing from one day to the next if it will start up and go or just sit there...dead....that's streaming so far. I was there when it started on Roku so have had lots of experience with it on a daily basis.

[true religion]

The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it