Netflix to raise Blu-ray pricing by 20 percent
updated 03:50 pm EDT, Mon March 30, 2009
Netflix ups Blu-ray prices
Rent-by-mail and online video rental company Netflix on Monday notified its subscribers that it would raise prices by nearly 20 percent for its Blu-ray library. Prices for standard-definition offerings on DVD will remain the same, with the new prices coming into effect on or after April 27th. Subscribers who do not wish to get their fees hiked need to disable the Blu-ray preference on their online accounts, Netflix says.
About one million of Netflix' more than 10 million subscribers currently rent Blu-ray discs, which the company says are substantially more expensive than DVDs. The new revenue will be used to expand the selection of the Blu-ray library, which currently counts more than 1,300 titles.
Netflix is increasingly dependent on its Internet streaming services for subscriptions and regularly gives access to these for free as part of most of its standard DVD subscriptions, even when the stream is available in HD. The company has said it gradually expects its service to be led by online content, particularly through devices like TiVo's DVRs or the Roku Internet Player.
