These days, it feels like we can’t go a month without astreaming service getting more expensive. Those same platforms originally sold to us as the future of home entertainment are struggling to keep the lights on at their current monthly prices, all while trying to push more users to subsidized ad-supported plans. It feels a lot like the rebirth of cable, only with your monthly bill split over five or six companies at any given time.
Frankly, it’s difficult to keep track of all the price increases we saw this year alone. Netflix is the most obvious candidate —this month’s boosts were its first in 2023, but it’s become such a habit for the company, it was genuinely surprising. Apple TV+, which, regardless of the company behind it, has a handful of must-watch shows,now costs $10 per monthdespite the lack of a major library of legacy titles.Disney’s increased pricesjust kicked off a couple of weeks ago, though the ad-supported plan was left untouched for the time being.
Personally, I think we’re living in some kind of streaming hell — whoever wins, we lose — but I have yet to really dig into what is or isn’t worth canceling. Frankly, the amount of time and effort it will take for me to narrow down my subscriptions to just one or two per month, likely requiring a revolving carousel of paused plans and library considerations. It sounds a hell of a lot like filing my taxes just to watch a movie on a Friday night, which probably explains why I’ve been buying digital titles on sale far more frequently than before.
I have a feeling we’re slowly reaching peak subscription prices, butif you ask analysts, we have a long way to go. So, I’m curious. Have you canceled a streaming plan in 2023? Do you have any intentions of shuttering your Netflix, Max, or Disney+ accounts — even if only as a temporary measure — or are you happy to keep shelling out for the sake of convenience on its own? Let us know in the poll below, and as always, feel free to expand on your thoughts in the comments.
