The era of cheap streaming is over, as streaming TV services ratchet up prices that now exceed cable television prices.
Anna Nicolaou and Christopher Grimes for Financial Times:
A basket of the top US streaming services will cost $87 this autumn, compared with $73 a year ago, as Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros Discovery and others have raised their prices in response to pressure from Wall Street to end the profligacy of the streaming boom. The average cable TV package costs $83 a month.
Americans had in recent years enjoyed the benefits of an extravagant era in Hollywood, during which media companies inundated audiences with more programming than ever at a fraction of the cost of traditional television.
Enticed by low prices, consumers rapidly cut the cable “cord” in favour of streaming services, with Disney+ attracting more than 100mn subscribers in only 16 months with a $6.99 subscription.
But privately, media executives warned of a looming “car crash” as they splashed out tens of billions of dollars on TV shows and films.
As interest rates have soared over the past year and a half, the crash has arrived.
MacDailyNews Take: It was fun while it lasted, but nothing lasts forever.
See also: Streaming is going to end up costing you more than cable – November 17, 202
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