Over the last few years, streaming services have risen in popularity, taking clients away from traditional cable television providers, who have increasingly struggled to get people to continue consuming their potentially soon-to-be-extinct services.
The convenience of obtaining a massive amount of content, including movies and shows on-demand, and now even live television for some streaming services, all in a single platform, is far more enticing than struggling to find channels on cable television and missing one’s favorite TV shows because of the already scheduled television programming that more often than not doesn’t align with most people’s busy itineraries.
Another factor that attracted media consumers to streaming services rather than cable television was the budget-friendly aspect, as streaming services offered far more affordable prices for a single subscription.
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However, this perk didn’t seem to last long. Due to the growing competition between streaming services to win over subscribers, they have begun implementing multiple tier levels, channel add-ons, and bundles to keep up with the rising cost of content. In turn, this has exponentially skyrocketed membership prices, making them just as costly, if not more, than traditional cable TV.
Detail of the Amazon Prime streaming app on the screen of an Apple iPad Mini.
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Streaming services increase subscription prices
Subscription services have slowly increased their prices since their inception, but many have turned price spikes into an almost yearly trend over the last few years.
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In less than three years, Netflix (NFLX) has increased its prices several times, with its last surge in January 2022. Walt Disney Company’s (DIS) Disney+ raised prices for its ad-free tiers last year, Hulu’s went up in 2024, and Comcast’s (CMCSA) Peacock increased its Premium and Premium Plus plans by $2 per month last year and $1 the year before that.
Most recently, YouTube announced it would increase the price of its base plan for YouTube TV by $10 a month to $82.99 monthly, starting Jan. 13, 2025. However, Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) Discovery+ might have beaten it to the punch by becoming the first streaming service to impose its subscription price increase in 2025.
Discovery+ announces a major price hike to ring in 2025
A new year marks the beginning of new price hikes for multiple streaming services, and Discovery+ subscribers were the first to be hit with higher monthly bills than usual.
Discovery+ on Jan. 7 announced that its ad-supported tier will now cost members $5.99 monthly, and its ad-free tier will be $9.99, increasing its prices by $1 per month.
The new changes in tier pricing will go into effect immediately for new subscribers. However, existing customers who are billed through the Discovery+ app or website will not be charged the extra fees until after Feb. 7, and those on a promotional discount won’t either until the end of the predetermined period. If billed through another provider, the respective provider will inform its customers of any price changes.
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Discovery+ last increased its prices in 2023, when it raised the cost of its ad-free tier from $7 per month to $9.
Although an effort to keep up with competition, this seems more like a way to shoo away its once-loyal customers who are now thinking twice about renewing their subscriptions.
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