Netflix extends Grace and Frankie, hikes prices

Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin

US streamer Netflix has renewed its longstanding comedy series Grace and Frankie for a sixth season and revealed a substantial price hike for millions of its subscribers.

Grace and Frankie, which will premiere its fifth season at the end of the week, stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as two women whose lives are suddenly turned upside down when their husbands reveal they are gay and leave them for each other.

The series was originally commissioned in 2014 and was co-created by Howard J Morris (Sullivan & Son) and Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman, with Skydance Television producing. Kauffman, Morris, Paula Weinstein, Fonda, Tomlin exec produce alongside Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross.

The show’s renewal came around the same time as the SVoD increased its subscription price on its US plans (and parts of Latin America) by 18%, its biggest increase to date.

Standard HD plans have risen from US$10.99 to $12.99 per month, with some observers believing the decision comes as a multitude of companies prepare to launch their own direct-to-consumer (DTC) services.

At the end of December, Disney revealed plans for its Disney+ service, AT&T has unveiled details for a three-tier streaming service to launch this year, and NBC recently announced its own SVoD proposal.

Additionally, established players Apple and Hulu have also been gearing up for the OTT battle, with the latter buoyed by a stellar 2018 that saw a 48% subscription bounce.

While price plans for Disney+ and Apple remain unknown, analysts are predicting that Disney’s will be cheaper than Netflix, but its library will not be as deep or diverse. Investors were not perturbed by Netflix’s announcement with its share price rising 6.5% (21 points) to close on $354.64.

Independent media, tech and telco analyst Paolo Pescatore said Netflix’s hike would not deter audiences in the short-term, but said he expected other regions would also see price increases in the future.

“For many users, Netflix is an indispensable video service. There will not be much backlash (for now),” he said. “This is certainly one way to increase revenue significantly. It needs to focus on financials as well as subscriber growth. Netflix is following the traditional pay TV model of increasing prices annually. Expect other countries to increase prices over coming months.”