Got Streaming Fatigue? Us Too. What Do We Do?
By Movieguide® Contributor
More people are canceling their streaming services due to rising costs.
The New York Post reported, “Over the past two years, roughly 25% of those who subscribed to AppleTV+, Amazon’s PrimeVideo, Max, Peacock, Paramount+, Nettflix, Hulu and Disney+ have canceled at least three of those options – an increase from 15% before hikes pushed the combined tab of the ad-free monthly costs for those eight streamers to $112.42 a month.”
It’s no secret that inflation and the cost of living are hitting everyone hard. Crystal Revis, a mother of six in Florida, reflected on having to decide between cable or streaming services because of the costs. “With the streaming services increasing their rates like they are, it’s like: ‘OK, do I pay for the cable?’” she said.
Movieguide® has previously reported on customers’ dissatisfaction with streaming prices:
A new study from the information company TransUnion found that millennials are particularly intolerant of rising prices, with 53% saying they have given up a subscription in the past due to a price hike. Among Gen Z, “30% of them cancel[ed] more than one service in the last six months and another 30% [told] researchers they had canceled one service.”
The rise in costs is not just hurting consumers but companies as well.
“While Netflix immediately took action, announcing a password-sharing crackdown, price hikes and the introduction of an ad tier, other streamers were slower to follow suit — though they would eventually copy the model — for fear of driving subscribers away,” Movieguide® said. “Fast forward to today, Netflix is the only streamer to consistently turn a profit, while the other platforms are fighting for the lives of their companies. This is because the boom of the streaming market inadvertently killed both the box office and cable, which had been the primary income sources for Hollywood studios for decades.”
The need to increase profits changed streamers’ approach to content production.
“Gone are the days of companies shelling out untold riches to create content and pay for top-notch talent in the hopes of attracting new customers; now they’re under pressure to actually turn a profit. That means less new content, more ads, and higher prices,” Fortune explained.
“The lack of content is evident across all of these streaming things right now,” Brendan Byrne, a father of four, explained. “We’ll cut back on a few of them,” he added. “We’re just not using them.”
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