By Daniela Raymond
If you mentioned to someone five years ago that they could be paying over 16 dollars a month for a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu they may have laughed in your face. Today, it is the reality for most online streaming.
As television takes on a new form of internet-related technologies, the medium has been taking a strong turn from broadcasting to online streaming.
As prices hike up, quality decreases and commercials and ads increase in number, many subscribers are facing the question: “Is this really worth it?”
Last month, Netflix announced that they would raise the prices of their ad-free plans. They have also added and locked many shows and movies depending on your plan. They recently phased out of their most basic plan, raising the monthly bill from $9.99 to $11.99 and the premium plan from $19.99 to $22.99. They have also enforced more rigid protocols when it comes to sharing accounts. Netflix no longer allows the sharing of passwords unless you are registered under the same household. When traveling you must request a code to be sent to the owner’s phone, travel logins are temporary and must be renewed with a new code every week or so.
Previously, ad-free subscription plans to Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Prime Video and Max could have cost you $50 per month, today that has risen to over $80. While consumers have fussed about monthly rates surging, most have been willing to pay up.
Shelly Novak, a dedicated TV show buff, has also noticed this rise in costs. For streaming veterans like Novak, price hikes have become almost a yearly ritual. Services like Netflix are confident that subscribers will hand over more money to access its streaming library.
“I’ve had to cancel two of my subscriptions to pay for others, and while I kept Netflix and Hulu they have added more commercials and locked many shows depending on your type of subscription,” Novak said.
Streaming services seem to be in a panic to raise prices, increase revenue and drive up sales by any means necessary. They are struggling to create a sustainable model that can release decent entertainment on a reasonable budget while also keeping viewers engaged on a regular basis.
The media corporations’ attempt to recover their costs from the expensive switch to streaming leads to these price increases. The rise in prices will eventually force customers to switch to less expensive, ad-supported plans which in turn improves revenue per user and satisfies investors.
A consumer report conducted by The Korea Contents Association asked an important question: “How many streaming services can one customer really handle?” In the survey, 64% of respondents who intended to subscribe to new services would downgrade or terminate one of their current streaming services for a new subscription. Furthermore, on the subject of cancellation, the second and third biggest reasons to cancel subscriptions based on the study were because “it was too expensive” and “I felt I didn’t get my money’s worth.”
“Even though prices are going up,” Novak said, she is thankful to have access to more content than she could ever watch. According to their official websites, Hulu’s complete library is estimated to contain more than 43,000 TV episodes from 1,650 shows and over 2,500 films. Netflix contains over 100,000 titles in its library including individual episodes
“When a show is not available on Netflix or Hulu I make another subscription and remember to cancel it at the end of the month,” Novak said.
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