Theater of Public Influence – Episode 35
Last week, streaming media giant, Netflix set the internet ablaze when they announced significant changes to their pricing model in an email to customers that read:
We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.
The resulting 60% price hike for most customers sparked a torrent of negative backlash on the Nextflix blog and various social media channels. In the latest episode of the Theater of Public Influence podcast, our roundtable dissects this story from every possible angle. Could Netflix have handled this change differently? What (if any) effect did the social outcry have on this decision and similar decisions to be made by other companies? Was this a necessary move to combat rising costs or a greedy cash grab by a near-monopoly? What is the cost of bandwidth and who’s ultimately getting paid? We follow the money and analyze the move by Netflix and the greater question of bandwidth as a commodity which looks more and more like the oil of the digital age.
Angry about the upcoming bump in your Netflix bill? Join us for some audio group therapy.
