Streaming services keep getting more expensive: all the latest price increases

The monthly price of ad-free Discovery Plus is jumping up in cost from $6.99 per month to $8.99 per month (plus taxes), Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Tuesday. The new price is effective Tuesday, meaning that if you’re already a subscriber, you’ll see the higher price on your “next billing cycle on or after November 2,” the company says. The streaming service’s “ad-lite” tier will stay the same price, meaning you can still get it for $4.99 per month.

Discovery Plus gives you access to more than 70,000 episodes of shows from networks like TLC, HGTV, Discovery, and Lifetime, meaning it’s a great choice for people looking to watch reality shows and unscripted series. Just read my colleague Emma Roth’s article about why she pays for Discovery Plus to get an idea of what’s on offer. And since you can’t get all Discovery Plus content on Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s other streaming service, there’s still a reason to pay for the now-more-expensive price for the Discovery-focused subscription.

AMC Networks says it’s introducing an ad-supported version of its AMC Plus streaming service. The plan will cost $4.99 per month and provide users access to the same content library as the $8.99 ad-free version.

According to the press release, the service’s “light” ad load will be limited to “less than five minutes per hour.” Series and films included on AMC Plus include The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Dark Winds, and Interview with a Vampire, as well as classics like Mad Men. The ad-supported version will also enable access to Shudder, Sundance Now, and IFC Films Unlimited.

It feels like every few months, another streaming service announces that it will be increasing its subscription rates. Paramount Plus and HBO Max have already done so this year, and Disney Plus and Hulu with Live TV are slated to follow suit next month with price hikes of their own.

Before you panic and hit “unsubscribe,” however, take a deep breath. As it turns out, some of these services are currently running a few promos, all of which can help you save some money on either a monthly or annual subscription. What’s more, some of these are available to both new and returning subscribers alike — a rarity in the streaming space.

Starz has lowered its annual subscription price from $74.99 a year to $69.99, Cord Cutters first reported and TechCrunch later confirmed. Starz emailed its subscribers the news on August 29th, explaining existing members will see the change in price on their next bill.

It’s not clear why Starz, which is home to TV shows like Outlander, The Serpent Queen, and Minx, made the move, but it’s a welcome one. Alison Hoffman, president of domestic networks at Starz, only told TechCrunch via email that “as one of the few streaming networks that is profitable, we are always looking for ways to drive success for the business while providing great value to our customers.”

Everyone’s long-standing concerns about the streaming space being a bubble on the verge of popping have proven to be more than warranted over the past few months as two of Hollywood’s ongoing labor strikes have raged on. But with the most recent round of services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount Plus raising their prices — during Hollywood’s ongoing double labor strike, no less — to meet the demand of shareholders for never-ending profits, the time has come for all of us to seriously rethink our relationships with the platforms that have become “the new cable.”

Over the weekend, the Financial Times published a bit of analysis about the current state of streaming that should only come as a surprise to those who haven’t been paying attention to how most of the major Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) platforms, and many smaller ones like Starz, Shudder, and BritBox, have hiked up their prices in the past year. In 2022, “a basket of the top US streaming services” would run you about $73 per month, but the same assortment of plans will now cost around $87 this fall — a figure that sits just above the $83 price tag the average US monthly cable plan comes with.

Disney is once again raising the ad-free prices of both Disney Plus and Hulu this fall. Beginning on October 12th, Disney Plus will cost $13.99 per month, while Hulu’s no-ads tier will run $17.99. The ad-sponsored tiers of both services will (for now) each remain $7.99.

Perhaps to ease that blow, the company is introducing a new combo subscription that will bundle ad-free experiences for both Disney Plus and Hulu for $19.99 per month. That plan will be available on September 6th.

Peacock added just 2 million subscribers over the past three months, bringing the service up to 24 million subscribers in the US. That number was included in Comcast’s earnings report today, which says Peacock nearly doubled its subscribers year over year.

In addition to the small bump in subscribers, Peacock’s revenue grew 85 percent year over year to $820 million. The service still lost $651 million, however, up from $467 million at the same time last year.

There are more streaming choices than ever before, and now Peacock has joined the list of services that are getting even more expensive.

A media update reported by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Streamable confirmed prices for both of its streaming plans are going up, effective August 17th for existing customers, with the cheaper Premium plan going up by $1 each month, from $4.99 to $5.99, and the Premium Plus package that gets rid of ads on most content and adds downloads for offline viewing along with access to live, local NBC channels is going up by $2, from $9.99 to $11.99 per month.

Paramount Plus will go up in price on June 27th. That’s when the company plans on launching its new Paramount Plus with Showtime integration, bringing the price of its existing ad-supported essential plan from $4.99 to $5.99 per month and its premium plan from $9.99 to $11.99, the latter of which will now include Showtime.

Previously, Paramount Plus had two separate premium plans: one without Showtime, for $9.99 per month, and another with Showtime, for $11.99 per month. These changes do away with that intermediate plan, which offered just Paramount Plus content and ad-free streaming without Showtime. The service will continue to offer its essential plan without Showtime and with ads.

Streaming services just keep creeping up in price. Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Apple TV Plus all announced price hikes this year, which means we’re forced to have to pay more money to keep up with the shows that are actually relevant, like Andor or Stranger Things.

The truth is, this trend isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Streaming services need to raise their prices or embrace advertising if they want to meet investors’ expectations. They’re just going to have to risk losing subscribers who don’t want to pay these jacked-up prices along the way.

Disney has announced that it’s raising the price of Disney Plus to $10.99 / month, up from its current price of $7.99 / month, starting December 8th in the US. The move comes as the company is looking to restructure its pricing options, which will soon include a $7.99 / month ad-supported tier.

Disney’s also raising the price of its Hulu subscription. The ad-free tier will jump from $12.99 / month to $14.99, while the ad-supported version will cost $7.99 / month, up from $6.99. The new pricing goes into effect on October 10th. A price hike for unbundled ESPN Plus streaming was announced in July, taking the monthly price from $6.99 to $9.99 / month.

Every year, the cost of streaming gets more and more expensive — and just last week, prices started going up again. Netflix announced that all of its tiers would get an immediate price hike for new subscribers, boosting its most expensive plan to $20 per month. It’s the third price increase since 2019.

At $15.50 per month, Netflix’s standard tier now slightly out-prices HBO Max ($15 per month) and the Disney Bundle (which includes ESPN Plus and Hulu for $14 per month), making it one of the most expensive on-demand streaming options among leading services. If you want 4K, it gets even pricier. That’s not an insignificant amount of money, considering people tend to have around four paid streaming subscriptions, according to recent data from Deloitte.