Netflix raises Australian prices as streaming wars heat up
A premium subscription to the top 10 streaming services is now over $220 a month. But there are clever ways to beat the price rises.
Netflix’s six million customers in Australia received a nasty shock last week. The streaming platform raised its prices across the board, close to 12 months since the last increase.
Despite the 10-25 per cent jump for different plans, Netflix, along with Stan and Disney+, have been revealed as the best value streaming services when factoring in audience demand for their content. That information won’t come as a shock for too many though with those streaming platforms three of the four biggest in Australia.
An examination of different offers, provided by entertainment data firm Parrot Analytics, also found streaming platform Binge was ranked highly for customer demand. For many, quality of content overrules price considerations.
But the sticker price is not the cost to lots of subscribers. AI is helping Binge target some customers with lower-priced offers.
The cheapest cost for subscriptions to the ten most popular streaming services’ plans with ads is now over $130 a month.
For viewers who prefer to watch streaming platforms ad free, that monthly cost is now over $220.
Kantar data quoted by The Australian recently noted there were close to 30 million streaming TV subscriptions in Australia with an average of 3.4 per household. The three subscriptions most people have are Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.
Commenting about the impact of pricing on subscriber growth, Anthony O’Byrne, Foxtel Group executive director, customer and revenue, told The Australian: “Just because we have $19 on the (Binge) sticker, it doesn’t mean that’s what everyone is paying. We use AI decision agents to figure out what is the right price at the right time for the customer. Our prices in market are the ceiling prices which then creates a space to operate below that to try and find that sweet spot for everyone as an individual.”
One recent offer saw Binge provide a 12-month subscription for just $48, equal to $4 per month.
Mr O’Byrne noted that acquisition content and retention content were different things, both important to attracting and retaining customers.
“We even did an ad campaign recently of ‘come for, stay for’, which tapped into that. We’ve got a great example of that coming up soon with The Paper, which is a spin-off of the US version of The Office,” he said.
With Foxtel’s Kayo and Binge competing against global streaming giants, Mr O’Byrne noted: “You have to be at the forefront of technology and making sure that you punch above your weight when you are competing with companies with enormous budgets.”
BBC-owned BritBox is by no means the biggest streamer, but its place in the top 10 is justified by the quality of content. The service was overhauled mid-year with the addition of linear channels and a significant price rise.
Moira Hogan, general manager of BritBox Australia, explained: “We listened to our customers as well as potential new subscribers to understand what they valued and what they were willing to pay. That helped shape our approach to content, features, and pricing.”
Like Binge, key to BritBox customer retention are new releases and back catalogue classics.
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