Netflix Inc. announced a $1 price increase for its most popular plan, a "standard" plan that allows customers to stream programming on two simultaneous screens at once. The move was initiated as the company ramps up its investment in producing original shows and movies, according to The Wall Street Journal.
New customers will now be charged $9.99 a month, as opposed to the previous price of $8.99. However, the price increase will only affect new subscribers for the meantime, as current subscribers will continue to be charged the old $8.99 until October 2016, reports NBC News.
The "basic" $7.99 plan, which allows users to stream programming to one screen, and the "premium" $11.99 plan, which allows programming to be streamed on up to four screens at once, will not be affected by the price increase.
"To continue adding more TV shows and movies including many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price for some new members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America," a Netflix spokesman said.
"As a thank you to existing Netflix members - who aren't already benefiting from grandfathering - we will maintain their current price for a year."
Netflix currently has about 65 million subscribers worldwide, and with its growth and foray into producing its own programs, the company is projected to accumulate about $4.3 billion in programming costs over the next year, according to Bloomberg Business.
The company has also started expanding globally, stating that its global expansion is expected to be complete by the end of next year.
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