Streaming services are increasing their prices after bringing in cord-cutters

Now that streaming services like Amazon Prime, Disney+ and HBO Max have established a foothold in this market, they are increasing their monthly subscription fees and can count on more customers cutting the cord.

Amazon will increase the price of its annual Prime subscription which includes access to original streaming content by $20 to $139 per year, while Netflix raised its monthly rate by as much as $2. Premium Netflix subscriptions now cost $19.99 per month. This allows customers to view up to four TV shows and movies at once.

Due to the sheer amount of streaming content, consumers subscribe to multiple streaming platforms in order to keep up with their favorite shows. Often, they pay more than one monthly bill.

One streaming subscriber said to Lilia Luciano, CBS News correspondent, that once you have a few it almost becomes a car payment.

Another streaming fan stated, "Any streaming platform that you can imagine, I am subscribing right now."

Netflix and other companies like it are hoping incremental price increases will be worth it to consumers who love binging on new episodes of their favorite shows.

"Dog-eat-dog environment"

Streaming platforms have spent billions of dollars creating original content that has earned them Oscars and other industry awards. Netflix, for instance, spent $17 billion in 2021 on original content creation and production. This increased spending combined with inflation has led to higher costs for consumers.

Paul Erickson, entertainment analyst, stated that services see content as a weapon to get people to subscribe. He believes streaming service providers will continue to increase their prices, as long as consumers are willing and able to pay the extra costs.

Erickson stated that consumers will stop paying for the service or quit subscribing to it when they "start leaving the service." Erickson said, "But that's a long way off, especially if prices are increasing incrementally over time."

Experts believe streaming services will expand their coverage of live sports. Of course, it won't all be available in one location and those who want all of it will need to subscribe to multiple streaming platforms.

Erickson stated, "You've chosen a lot of these content and these services -- what you get for that money is more relevant to your needs," Erickson added. That's what is important.