Streaming services hike prices as 39% of Americans cancel subscriptions
Disney, Apple, and Peacock raise fees while adding ads; households now spend $120+ monthly for major platforms.
What to know
- Streaming services across the board—Disney, Apple, Peacock, and others—have raised subscription prices repeatedly, with Disney+ annual costs climbing 170% since launch.
- An estimated 39% of Americans canceled a streaming service in the past six months; households with multiple subscriptions now spend ~$120 monthly, matching or exceeding traditional cable bills.
- Services are degrading value by inserting ads even on premium tiers, downgrading video quality, and consolidating bundles rather than offering discounts.
Streaming services have replicated the cable model they promised to disrupt.
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“For the total price, you might as well call the whole thing Cable+, in that it's like your old cable bill, only there's more of it.”
Jesse Hassenger · Guardian Media ↗
Market saturation will force a reckoning once services exhaust growth potential.
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“What happens when everyone on Earth with an internet connection and a credit card already has Netflix? I expect the score will roll over to zero and we'll start from the beginning but with everything going a lot faster.”
BigJackBrass · Mastodon ↗
Disney Streaming service providerApple TV Streaming service providerPeacock Streaming service providerNetflix Streaming service provider
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Guardian analysisStreaming costs now rival traditional cable bills
Article calculates that accessing six major streaming services (Netflix, Disney+/Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+, Apple TV, Peacock) costs approximately $120 monthly plus broadband, with Disney+ annual pricing rising from $70 at launch to $190—a 170% increase. Services are adding ads even to premium tiers and degrading video quality.
“For the total price, you might as well call the whole thing Cable+, in that it's like your old cable bill, only there's more of it.”
— Jesse Hassenger -
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US consumers are starting to opt out of the streaming world as several services raise prices without offering many perks
2 more of the top 3 · 9 posts in this stretch
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Sta iniziando il declino dei servizi di streaming? Mentre i prezzi delle principali piattaforme di intrattenimento crescono, gli utenti americani iniziano a disiscriversi. L'aumento delle tariffe è spesso accompagnato da una paradossale diminuzione della qualità dell'offerta o dall'introduzione di spot pubblicitari. https://www…
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Yeah I remember when I only had a dial with 7 channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 & 13) and still always hated commercials. I could only afford basic cable for a few years. When streaming came out I was so happy they were gone! Now it’s just more of them and now on top of it they’re tracking your entire life so you so you don’t even get shared jingles…
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background
Guardian reports widespread streaming price hikes and mass cancellations — Guardian analysis documents that Disney has raised prices on Disney+ and Hulu bundles, Apple TV has increased four times in four years, and Peacock has raised prices by $5-6 monthly since summer 2025. An estimated 39% of Americans canceled a streaming service in the past six months due to "streamflation."
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Guardian Culture, 22h ago · also Guardian Tech, Guardian Media
What people are saying 6 voices from 2 sites · best of 9 · verbatim
- Today
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What its done to society is exactly what they said communism would do. Every product is crap these days
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Is plex just downloaded videos you own or does it have streaming? I’m not clear at all how it works
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Everyone here is extremely pro-piracy. You’ll never be downvoted for it unless you go to some sort of physical media subreddit.
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Streamflation killed channel surfing and replaced it with subscription Tetris. I rotate services every few months now, sub to binge 2, 3 shows, cancel, move on. Anyone else basically treating them like seasonal passes?
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No matter how you argue about prices, I still view streaming as a luxury item, not a necessity; if you can't afford than doing something else. People need to understand that our parents survived without streaming; in fact we had if we missed an episode on TV, we missed it. There was no catch-up unless you were lucky and they aired repeats. What's…
- Yesterday
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“What happens when everyone on Earth with an internet connection and a credit card already has Netflix?” I expect the score will roll over to zero and we’ll start from the beginning but with everything going a lot faster. https://www. theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2 026/sep/24/streaming-services-inflation-ads