Netflix to Raise Blu-ray Rental Fees

During a conference call Monday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings commented that his company would raise rental fees later this year for those customers who rent Blu-ray movies. Since the high definition format was introduced, Netflix has been providing Blu-ray rentals at no additional fee to their customers. Now that the format war is over, and rentals are increasing, Hastings feels that it is necessary to charge a premium for high definition rentals.

He commented, "Purchasing Blu-ray DVDs costs more, both at retail and wholesale, than standard definition DVDs. Consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content."

No word if rival rental powerhouse Blockbuster would also be raising rental fees for high definition movies. If Blockbuster decides to keep fees lower than Netflix, it could radically shift momentum towards the second place online movie renter.