Netflix has decided it is time to up the ante. The streaming video service is set to increase its monthly subscription prices for just the first time in the past three years. This will help Netflix pay for additional video programming on Internet such as House of Cards its popular drama about politics.
The increase is monthly rates is expected to hit sometime between now and the end of June and will likely be between $1 and $2 per month for any new subscriber. The computer currently has over 36 million subscribers that will continue paying $8 each month for at least another year.
The price increase by Netflix was announced along with a solid earnings report for the first quarter.
Netflix has spent more to compete with traditional channels on cable-TV like Showtime and HBO, along with tech companies such as Hulu.com, Amazon.com, Yahoo and Microsoft, which all plan to purchase more video programming for Internet from studios in Hollywood.
Amazon raised its price recently for its Prime service to $99 annually from $79.
Investors liked the idea of Netflix having more revenue coming in as its stock was up 6.6% or $23.00 in extended trading following the announcement of its plans.
Netflix ended March with more than 35.7 million subscribers to their video streaming service in the United States. During the first three months of 2014, the company added over 2.25 million new customers. That number is nearly 50% higher than the 23.9 million subscribers in the U.S. as of July of 2012.
Netflix’s earnings were $53 million equal to 86 cents a share, during the first quarter of 2014. That was compared to last year during the same quarter of $2.7 million or 5 cents a share.
The most recent quarterly earnings beat Wall Street expectations of 81 cents a share.
Revenue for the company was up more than 24% from the same period a year ago to end the quarter at $1.3 million, which matched the expectations of analysts on Wall Street.
