CPI taken from https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
I fudged the CPI calculation a bit because I didn’t do the compounding monthly, but I ensured that based on the CPI calculator, the starting value of $11.99 -> $16.43 from January 2013 -> December 2024.
To be fair, I think CPI is somewhat bullshit, but it was the easiest .gov source for inflation data that I knew about.
Data:
| Year | Basic | Standard with Ads | Standard | Premium | Premium Following CPI | CPI Inflation % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $7.99 | - | - | – | - | - |
| 2012 | $7.99 | - | - | – | - | 1.60% |
| 2013 | $7.99 | - | $9.99 | $11.99 | $11.99 | 1.58% |
| 2014 | $7.99 | - | $10.99 | $13.99 | $12.19 | -0.89% |
| 2015 | $7.99 | - | $11.99 | $14.99 | $12.09 | 1.37% |
| 2016 | $7.99 | - | $11.99 | $14.99 | $12.26 | 2.50% |
| 2017 | $7.99 | - | $12.99 | $15.99 | $12.57 | 2.07% |
| 2018 | $7.99 | - | $12.99 | $15.99 | $12.84 | 1.55% |
| 2019 | $8.99 | - | $13.99 | $16.99 | $13.05 | 2.49% |
| 2020 | $8.99 | - | $14.99 | $18.99 | $13.38 | 1.40% |
| 2021 | $8.99 | - | $14.99 | $18.99 | $13.58 | 7.48% |
| 2022 | $9.99 | - | $15.49 | $19.99 | $14.60 | 6.41% |
| 2023 | Phased Out | $6.99 | $15.49 | $19.99 | $15.55 | 3.09% |
| 2024 | – | $6.99 | $15.49 | $22.99 | $16.04 | 2.33% |
| 2025 | – | $7.99 | $17.99 | $24.99 | $16.43 | - |
edit: Zeroed y axis
Which is strange because you would think keeping the price low enough to sway customers away from other services or low enough it’s forgettable (gym membership style) or just low enough to keep people from canceling would net them more customers and make up for the lower rates.
But no they keep increasing and driving more people away which in turn causes them to raise rates again this is a death spiral.
It’s easy to raise rates when the competition is doing the same and people keep paying for it.
Don’t worry, things will get disrupted eventually and we won’t even remember what Netflix was. And they themselves won’t care because the C-Suite executives will be rolling in millions upon millions which is the end goal for these companies anyway.
Companies want fewer high-value customers vs. loads of low-paying customers. Get the same revenue, spend less on overhead.