If it feels like everything is more expensive these days, that’s because a lot of things are more expensive.
Nearly every industry has increased prices for their products, but it’s especially true for digital media. Streaming services, who are borderline reinventing cable these days, saw a 23% increase in prices across the major film and television platforms:
- Amazon Prime Video: $8.99 → $11.98
- Apple TV+: $6.99 → $9.99
- Disney+: Premium $10.99 → $13.99
- Hulu: No ads $14.99 → $17.99
- Max: $14.99 → $15.99
- Netflix: Basic plan $9.99 → $11.99, premium $19.99 → $22.99
- Paramount+: Ad tier $4.99 → $5.99, $9.99 → $11.99
- Peacock: Premium (with ads) $4.99 → $5.99, premium plus $9.99 → $11.99
“The era of ‘streamflation’ is here,” said Scott Purdy, a U.S. national media industry leader for professional services firm KPMG.
Netflix has experienced several price increases over the years, and last year, the streaming service added commercials to their cheapest plan. Several other streamers followed suit, with platforms like Amazon Prime and Peacock increasing their price for the first time ever.
Services are trying to keep up with a growing market while production costs also increase. As of September 2023, Netflix was the only streaming service that was turning a profit, while every other service reported they were with losing both customers and revenue. With so many streaming subscription options, customers were cuting ties with services that cost too much but offered too little.
According to Fortune, “Half of the major streaming platforms in the U.S. now charge a monthly fee that’s double the price they charged when they initially came to market,” and most of them have only been around for a few years. With no endpoint in sight, it seems like customers should get ready to pay more for entertainment or be prepared to let some streaming services go.
