Netflix is raising prices for UK subscribers

Netflix is raising the prices for its UK customers on its standard and premium streaming plans, as reported by The Guardian. The standard plan, which allows for streaming on two devices at the same time in HD, will be £8.99, up from £7.99. The premium plan, which allows for streaming on up to four devices in Ultra HD, will be priced at £11.99, up £2 from the previous £9.99. The basic standard definition plan will remain unchanged, at £5.99.

The price hikes will be rolling out to existing UK customers in the next few weeks, while new customers will start paying the new subscription fees immediately.

Netflix raised the cost for all of its streaming plans for US customers in January this year, citing price increases as a necessary part of expanding its original content offerings. The company is investing in original programming and licensing rights to series like Friends, as it gears up to compete against streaming competitors like Disney+ and the upcoming Apple TV Plus service. Friends was a $100 million deal that gave Netflix the exclusive rights to all 10 seasons until the end of 2019, outbidding Hulu and WarnerMedia. Netflix spent $12 billion on content in 2018, and Variety reports that the company is expected to spend as much as $15 billion this year. With these incremental price hikes, customers are paying the price for all that premium content.