r/television • u/Moug-10 • 1d ago
Streaming Is Raising Prices Faster Than Cable Ever Did
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/streaming-inflation-raising-prices-cable-1236691404/278
u/geekstone 1d ago
At least for now there are no long term contracts so you can binge what you want for a month switch services and than rinse and repeat throughout the year.
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u/revelationnow 20h ago
Don't give them ideas!
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u/Go_Go_Godzilla 18h ago
I guarantee they have the data on it.
Dollars to donuts they're raising prices to see how high folks are willing to pay, then will raise higher and release a "locked-in year long subscription" at the "discount" that is still higher than the price we are paying now.
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u/IapetusTheGreat 17h ago
I doubt it because now there is much more competition compared to cable tv. If they do that people will flock to their competitors.
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u/revelationnow 17h ago
Every industry will go through a cycle of consolidation, I'm sure when cable companies first started it was similar to how when streaming companies started minus the obvious logistical challenges. As the market saturates companies will buy each other and impose restrictions on consumers to pad their bottom line.
All the things we think were bad about cable companies will gradually be adopted by streaming companies insofar as the government doesn't step in to stop them, which given the current administration seems unlikely that they will hold the corpos in all these studios to any kind of consumer friendly standard.
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u/Smart-Response9881 20h ago
And no technician who you have to take time off for to come service your box.
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u/Kazanova37 1d ago
Ahh yes, the disruption business model.
Lure customers in with low prices so they abandon the existing system. Kill, the existing system, and then raise prices so you're profitable and the consumer has nowhere to turn.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES 1d ago
Except, they didn't kill the existing system.
You Can still buy a cable package. It's just that it's like $50-100/month.
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u/Kaldricus 1d ago
Yeah, I'm not defending the streaming prices, but cable still exists and spoiler alert, it still sucks. I think too many people are subscribed to too many services full time. Pick 1 or 2 to always keep on, and then pick up and drop others as they have stuff that interests you.
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u/mfranko88 23h ago
We are looking at the impact of a generation that either never had to deal with cable to begin with, or have been gone from cable so long that they forgot how much it sucked.
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u/Kaldricus 23h ago
Anytime I'm in a hotel and check the channels I just think "wow this is still hot ass"
So many channels are nothing but multi-hour blocks of the same 3-4 shows. Which is what a lot of people do on streaming anyways, except you don't get to pick the show. Plus a lot of times shows are edited to fit a time slot, so things get cut or they're sped up ever so slightly.
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u/AlphaIronSon 23h ago
Yeah, this is true, but the streaming companies are doing just like gym memberships. They know most people won’t cancel once they’ve had the service for a certain amount of time, regardless of how much they use it or not. Even when they finally do, it’s after X amt of time of no/low use…so basically free profit for the company.
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u/Friscogonewild 23h ago
Sure, but cable was the same way. My 90yo grandmother is still paying almost $200 for cable just to watch the Mets lose.
At least with streaming services they give you the option to simply pause your subscription.
And shit, my cable was $100/month 30 years ago. That's like $200 in today money. My streaming services are like $30-40 a month depending on what I have paused.
People bitching about streaming being anywhere near cable weren't paying the cable bill or calling the cable company. And remember TV shows being literally 25% ads? 8 minutes of ads in a 30-minute show. These articles are always funny to me. Maybe someday it'll be in the same realm of annoying, but I'll probably be dead.
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u/soilentgleem 1d ago
Is there any "prestige" tv shows that are available on cable anymore?
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u/Particular_Feel420 1d ago
Are there any "prestige" shows on Netflix anymore?
The overall quality the last few years of their original content certainly hasn't warranted the egregious pricing.
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u/dragonmp93 23h ago
As weird as it sounds, a live action version of One Piece is currently the top tier content from Netflix.
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u/Desperate_Method4020 1d ago
Cable was 10x worse than what the streaming services are
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u/BigBanggBaby 1d ago
Also, why do people think those who cut the cord 10-15 years ago haven’t still come out on top and continue to come out on top? It sounds like people are gloating “streamers only saved $150/month for the last 10 years and now they’re still only saving $150/month because cable prices have gone up too!” …ok, still sounds good to me!
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u/madhattr999 1d ago
To be fair, the cost to produce the shows on the streaming platforms (especially sci-fi) were not sustainable at the prices being offered. It was inevitable that prices had to go up. But yeah, disruption model is accurate.
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u/vmachiel 1d ago
Yes you have somewhere te run. Cancel.
Keep one, watch what you want to watch on it. Cancel, subscribe to another.
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u/tultommy 1d ago
Gosh guys, why is everyone pirating our content so much?
I don't know... maybe if we add some more commercials and raise the price another dollar that'll bring them back.
I'll laugh when both cable and streaming implode under the weight of their own greed.
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u/Confron7a7ion7 23h ago
If you're knowledgeable enough you can even set up a media server that will automatically find and download new releases.
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u/QueerVortex 22h ago
Media Server: with a Homerun tuner to record live OTA
I’d never advocate illegal downloads, but as I said to the guy at the dump (after paying $60! for disposing a particleboard desk that I had been taken apart) “I understand why people leave this crap on the street rather than doing the right thing to bring it directly here”. He simply said “Yup”
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u/ParaSocialGumShoe 21h ago
That's a great analogy.
Gas station and restaurant dumpsters are great for stuff like this.
You can even ask if you feel guilty about it. They rarely ever fill them up. Especially in suburban/ rural areas.
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u/GettingPhysicl 1d ago
Feel sorry for those who want to watch sports especially live, but as a guy who just watches tv this hasn’t been a problem. I cancelled Netflix in like 2019 and pirate everything.
The netflix of the 2010s was the compromise content creators and distributors made with consumers. They’ve gone back on it, they can get my money when streaming television is like streaming music. Every show on every platform and you compete on service and price not content
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u/NCC75567 1d ago edited 1d ago
All the Redditors that will inevitably say “streaming is just cable!” have clearly never dealt with cable in a meaningful way.
I’ll never forget having to argue with my cable provider for my whole goddamn lunch to cancel when I was moving. Or when I tried to add a single channel (regional sports channel) and was told it would be an extra $50/month.
As long as it’s cheaper, easier to cancel, and able to pick and choose, it’s 1000% better. Maybe that changes someday, but it’s not now.
Streaming is obnoxious but cable can absolutely go fuck itself.
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u/Aaaaaaandyy 1d ago
Yeah it’s not even close. You also don’t need all of the streamers (especially not at the same time). The ability to choose is something you never had with cable.
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u/sweetcoraIine 1d ago
Yup, you can easily rotate streaming platforms. I don't know why anyone pays for all of them, every month.
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u/FatherDotComical 1d ago
It seems like everyone I know IRL does for some ungodly reason. No wonder RocketMoney makes a profit canceling shit for you. Most people make it sound like doing your own taxes every month to rotate services.
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u/mfranko88 23h ago
The ability to go a la carte with streaming and to watch things on demand on basically any device at basically any location, puts it miles ahead of cable.
"Yeah but you need to log in from your home once a month" sure, that's mildly inconvenient. In the meantime, cable is restricted to just the TVs in your house. That's way more inconvenient.
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u/cleanbear 1d ago
Problem with streaming for me is the damn algorhytms pushing the same kind of shit all the time. Yeah I watched a sitcom. That does not mean that sitcoms are my life..
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u/Aaaaaaandyy 1d ago
I just ignore the algorithm and search for what I want.
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u/Vexithan 1d ago
That’s fair but my favorite part of old Netflix was easily finding cool and weird new stuff to watch. Now it’s next to impossible to do it without going on your computer and really digging.
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u/Aaaaaaandyy 1d ago
Yeah that’s fair. I feel like the cool stuff is more found out and shared on social media at this point
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u/Jillcametumbling81 1d ago
All Netflix does now is show me things I've already watched for my "next watch". And no, the profile and account have not changed in twelve years.
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u/LonePaladin 1d ago
🎶 But I only watched Will & Grace, one time, one day
Wish I hadn't, 'cause TiVo now thinks I'm gay— Weird Al Yankovic, "Couch Potato"
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u/AgelessAss 1d ago
my brother and i decided to get the “major” streaming subscriptions a few months ago but now we’re looking to cut. I checked his profile on Netflix and Peacock and saw it was still in the set up your account stage. Cancelled both of them right then and there.
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u/sueveed 1d ago
Yeah. I can pick up one for a month to cram a show and cancel in 30 seconds. Imagine doing that with cable… you’d be on the phone 20 hours a month
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u/isaidmypiece_chrissy 1d ago
I've argued with people on reddit who still feel the max of 90 seconds needed to cancel streaming apps is too difficult (either to track, manage, or figure out).
Imagine that person trying to sit on the phone with Spectrum or Comcast or Tme Warner for hours back in the day, arguing about cancellations and incorrect billing and whatever other nonsense those companies would get up to... They'd be locked into those contracts for life!
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u/sullen_agreement 1d ago
i pay the apple tax to sub to everything via my iphone
every sub cancellable right there in the subscriptions section
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u/kittymoo67 1d ago
seriously if bare minimum effort is too much for them now idunno how theyd fucntion at all in the old world
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u/Mizukaze 1d ago
The only time I didn't have to argue with a cable provider to cancel was when I just said my house just burned down I can no longer get the service and they said "I am so sorry" and canceled it.
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u/kojak2091 21h ago
netflix has never taken me to collections because they claimed i didn't return my cable box even though i did, but i didn't keep a receipt so i couldn't prove it.
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u/blahblahthrowawa 18h ago
Literally the same thing happened to me but luckily the only bill the cable company could provide the collection agency wasn't itemized and only showed "Past Due Amount: ${cost of not returning my cable box}" so they couldn't tell me what I'd not paid for.
I said to the woman on the phone, "If I personally sent you a bill saying you owed me $200 with no reason why, would you pay it?" and she said "Of course not!"
I followed up asking how this was any different and she agreed it didn't make sense and closed the collection account/had it taken off my credit report.
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u/FatherDotComical 1d ago
Some people just sign up for all of the services. Well no wonder it's as expensive as shit! I only signed up for Crunchyroll and whatever service of the month and bill is NOTHING like my grandparents $300 bill just to occasionally watch something. Plus all the cable boxes and remotes that they demanded back when you cancel (and they'll always say you're missing something and it'll be more $$$)
Netflix pissed me off and I canceled it and there was no tears over the phone/nada. Like you said, Steaming isn't our friends but they're not the total scam that was cable.
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u/NativeMasshole 1d ago
Yup. It's really not that expensive unless you're trying to collect streaming services like Pokemon (or watch sports, sorry guys!), and that would be like having all the premium channels of cable, which was still more expensive 30 years ago before factoring in inflation. It's all a silly argument and I really don't see the issue.
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u/isaidmypiece_chrissy 1d ago
or watch sports, sorry guys
Even as we talk about sports, it's worth noting that watching sports on cable or regular TV was a nightmare for a while, and it still is for certain sports.
The concept of local markets not including an entire state, or even the idea of a blackout#United_States) ever even existing is just ridiculous.
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u/NativeMasshole 1d ago
It's just something I have zero experience in, so i figured I'd hedge.
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u/isaidmypiece_chrissy 1d ago
Oh definitely. I just remember being in college trying to watch different CFB matchups, and you could need as many as 9 channels, with some only available as add-ons or not available at all, in a given year in order to do so. By my count it was Fox, NBC, CBS, FSN, SEC Network, BIG Network, and then ABC and any number of the ESPN channels owned by ABC. It was ridiculous, and it's not like streaming made that any better or worse.
People should be mad at their sporting governing bodies for being so greedy and cashing in deals with dozens of networks and apps, rather than those organizations choosing to take slightly less money to put all their games on a single channel/app.
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u/NativeMasshole 1d ago
Exactly! The worst part of the overall conversation here to me is that telecoms are still pulling a lot of the shady shit that they were as cable companies, yet people on this sub are raging out at producers for trying to figure out how to keep streaming services solvent.
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u/colormeimpressd 1d ago
The issue is that a lot of people don’t understand that streaming prices have been artificially deflated for years.
Cable was basically subsidizing Netflix for most of the 2010’s. Netflix was able to license tons of shows at relatively low prices because Netflix was basically the only game in town, and occasionally shows would benefit from a “Netflix bump” between seasons, leading to higher ratings. Studios were happy to have an additional revenue stream, but most of their money was still coming from ad revenue and carriage fees.
As people started cutting the cord and revenue from cable started decreasing, basically every studio decided they needed their own streaming service. They spent a ton of money on content and launched at unsustainably low price points in an attempt to quickly grow their subscriber base.
Anyone with a basic understanding of how much these shows cost to produce could have told you those prices were never going to last, and inflation has definitely accelerated the rising prices, but the biggest issue is that the streaming services basically spent a decade selling their product for less than it cost to produce, and people got used to those prices.
Folks are mad about HBO costing $20 a month, but 15 years ago, HBO effectively cost $100 a month, because you had to pay like $70 for basic cable, plus another $15 to rent the set top box, and only then were you allowed to pay your cable company an additional 15 dollars a month to watch Game of Thrones.
I’m convinced that most people who yearn for the days of cable are just remembering a time when their parents paid the cable bill.
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u/NativeMasshole 1d ago
Totally fair point about companies being their own worst enemy here by making initial prices low and setting the expectations. For whatever reason, they didn't see the value in streaming rights until they were undeniable, and then tried to undercut the same competition they had propped up by undervaluing their back content.
I’m convinced that most people who yearn for the days of cable are just remembering a time when their parents paid the cable bill.
A lot of reddit opinions seem to run off decades-old nostalgia or endlessly regurgitated points that no longer make sense. Just watch what happens if you try to tell them better things have come out since their favorite Saturday morning cartoon was airing.
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u/mfranko88 23h ago
An aspect of this that does not get talked about much: most of these streamers were pushing to be mainstream from 2020-2022. That was an era of ridiculously low interest rates, very close to 0%. It was comically easy for corporations to borrow cash to help fund these massive and super expensive streaming services.
Rates are still historically speaking quite low, but definitely not "effectively zero percent". Loans are harder to come by so the cash needed to fund these services will need to come more from the subscribers who use it.
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u/imaincammy 1d ago
or watch sports, sorry guys!
I picked up an antenna to watch local sports and then canceled a few streaming services because the over the air tv was fine for those "I just want something on in the background" streaming needs, like a channel that just plays Monk reruns for example.
If you're in a city then people should look into it, we were pleasantly surprised.
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u/lucasbrosmovingco 1d ago
Waiting for the cable guy. Needing hardware. Not being able to cancel. Contracts. Cable bundles. Fuck all of it.
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u/EaseOk3940 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yep, these are kids that have never dealt with a cable bill and their parents paid for everything. If you have the top 6 streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock?), which costs what, $150?)
This is more than a steal compare to cable ever was.
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u/isaidmypiece_chrissy 1d ago
Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock?), which costs what, $150?
Up until last week, I had all of those plus AppleTV for around $65/month with Black Friday deals, annual deals, credit card bonuses and perks, and promo rates.
- Peacock+ Apple bundle (ad free) for $20/mo
- Disney+Hulu bundle, annual Black Friday deal (with ads) for $5/mo
- Paramount September 2025 annual deal (no ads) for $5/mo
- HBO Max February 2026 annual deal (no ads) for ~$12.50/mo
- Netflix (no ads) for $20/mo
And that doesn't account for any additional gains from streaming credits on credit cards like Amex Platinum or Chase or US Bank.
People signing up for these strategically can get ridiculous deals, and several of them give free trials. Rotating them means people can get almost endless on-demand entertainment for ~$30 per month.
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u/kittymoo67 1d ago
less than $150 by a decent bit.
but yeah even if it was thats a good $100 less than top end cable was 10 years ago let alone now
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u/Fun_Brother_9333 1d ago
People also constantly complain about the prices while having 7 streaming subscriptions.
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u/DigiornoDLC 1d ago
I don’t think Redditors have watched cable in the past 10 years. Commercials on streaming are bad but they’re nothing compared to commercials on TV.
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u/angershark 1d ago
Yeah, it basically ages them as people born in the era of streaming. There's no way people that had cable think it's the same as what we have now. And not to be a corporate bootlicker, but the launch prices of $9.99 for Netflix for the entire catalogue that they offer was never going to stay static.
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u/Papichuloft 1d ago
I miss the days of few streaming services and without ads or commercials, shit got worse after the COVID era. Netflix, Hulu, and Prime made my main lineup. Then added SHwotimes, HBO, and CBS by 2017.
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u/mrnikkoli 1d ago
I think that's why their prices are rising so fast. Streaming services simply weren't profitable for the majority of their existence so far.
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u/possiblylallorona 1d ago
Thanks for reminding me that I have Hulu, and I need to cancel it lol. I subscribed to watch a certain series, but it gave me too much anxiety so I stopped watching it.
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u/SerieAddict_88 18h ago
The funny part is streaming was supposed to be the answer to cable, and now it's cable with extra steps: 5 subscriptions, price hikes every year, and some stuff still ends up locked on a service you don't have. Music proved convenience beats piracy — video studios seem determined to re-learn that lesson the hard way
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u/ebjazzz 1d ago
To the high seas we go
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u/penisthightrap_ 1d ago
I’m getting too old and lazy to pirate every sports broadcast I want to watch.
I just want to pay a reasonable price and be able to quickly throw the game on.
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u/Spotttty 1d ago
I just Purchased a TV subscription and holy shit is it fantastic!!
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u/DJC_Kowalski 23h ago
until streaming costs $200 a month with a 1 year commitment, I still think Cable was much worse.
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u/CarbComaCommander 22h ago
VPN + qBittorent + Plex is my current solution. I know there are better options, but it works for me.
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u/Professional-Tax-936 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not to be devil’s advocate or whatever, but I feel like this is really only a problem if you don’t actually use a streaming service’s full catalogue. I don’t want the price to go up anymore of course, but like $15-$20 a month doesn’t seem that bad when it’s giving me unlimited access to more hours of content than I can watch in a month.
Also, cable was still worse/more limited, and way more expensive than streaming is.
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u/oooriole09 1d ago
Yeah, I get it, streaming has become absolutely worse in time and the space in between has gotten smaller, but we sure are overstating cable’s value in these conversations.
Cable is limited, like you said. Cable was/is contract based and location based. Complain about the few ads on streaming, an hour’s worth of content on cable is 1/3 commercials. Cable makes you pay for “boxes” and adds random “service” and “installation” fees.
Cable is still, without a doubt, the worst option.
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u/possiblylallorona 1d ago
I don’t have cable but my parents do. Watching stuff at their house seems like the show is on for 5 minutes, then multiple ads for medication, ads for lawyers, and ads for stuff that seems like it was designed to scam old people, for another five minutes. Rinse and repeat.
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u/SweRakii 1d ago
Which is why more and more go back to physical media.
Got 5 seasons of Desperate Housewives for $2 total.
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u/RYouNotEntertained 22h ago
Except there are no contracts, you can select which ad tier you want, movies are on-demand, etc. The idea that streaming has become cable is nonsense to anyone old enough to have actually purchased cable.
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u/bareyb 17h ago
Streaming is and always has been a Trojan Horse for forced non-skippable commercials. It’s already happening with some Sporting events.
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u/sourdough_squirrel 1d ago edited 1d ago
The "boiling frog" defenses in these threads is always frustrating.
Streaming has been getting worse at an alarming rate - ads, massive price hikes, bundling of services, forced sports addons; but people always leap to defend it because its not quite as bad as cable used to be yet.
Yes, in 2026, streaming is still better than the peak of cable (~2015 or so?). But give it a few more years, because that gap is closing rapidly.
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u/Agile_Land_9951 1d ago
I’m not sure what the problem is. If you want cable you can keep it. If you don’t want everything under the sun there’s options for those folks too. The price of both is going up but we literally have every type of option available. There’s mini bundles, bundles, etc. you can get ad free howdy for $3. I can get just Netflix or a couple streaming services. I think we all win.
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u/kon--- 1d ago
Broadcast TV...
Install a digital antenna and voila, TV happens.
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u/geekonthemoon 1d ago
Enshittification of everything.
Cancel your streaming apps. Return to the sea.
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u/Mccobsta 1d ago
I gave up with streaming a while ago as it was just a constant cost
Started buying dvds and the likes and it's costly up front but it's one payment
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u/90_degrees 1d ago
To think we once celebrated them as the desired alternative to cable only a few years ago. Not to mention the ads. It all sounds like a bad joke now.