Starz has recently reduced its pricing, which is good news for subscribers. However, this move doesn’t address the ongoing trend of increasing prices in the streaming industry. Many major streaming services, including Disney+, have raised their monthly or annual rates. In an attempt to make the price increase more appealing, some companies are offering plans with lower monthly costs that come with ad breaks. Hulu has been operating with this business model for some time, while Netflix has recently introduced a similar plan. Netflix charges $6.99 per month in the United States for its plan with ads, but a hefty $15.99 per month for the standard ad-free plan.

The rising costs in the streaming market, coupled with its highly fragmented nature, have left many consumers frustrated. Some customers find themselves paying as much for multiple streaming services as they did for cable or satellite TV, negating the initial reason they switched to streaming. While sharing costs with friends or family has been a common way to ease the financial burden, services like Netflix and Disney have started cracking down on password sharing. During Disney’s August 2023 earnings call, they expressed their intention to implement similar restrictions for their streaming service in the future.