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Every platform subscriber will have noticed: In recent months, payment services have significantly increased their prices. In fact, both Apple TV+ and Disney+ have changed their tariffs in Spain in recent weeks.
The price comparison of each platform when it was launched in Spain and their current prices speak for themselves (monthly prices are compared unless otherwise stated):
Netflix
Introductory Pricing (2015): Basic Plan: 7.99. Standard plan: 9.99 Premium plan: 11.99
Prices today: Plan with ads: 5.49. Standard plan: 12.99. Premium plan: 17.99
(The basic ad-free plan is gone for new subscribers.)
Amazon Prime Video
Introductory price (2016): 19.90 annually
Price today: 4.99 per month (49.90 per year)
Disney+
Introductory price (2020): 6.99
Prices today: With advertising: 5.99. Standard plan: 8.99. Premium Plan: 11.99
HBO Spain/Max
Introductory price (2016): 7.99
Price today: 9.99 (69.99 annually)
Apple TV+
Introductory price (2019): 4.99
Price today: 9.99
Movistar Lite/Plus+
Introductory price (2019): 8
Price today: 14
Filmmaker:
Introductory price (2010): 10
Price today: 7.99
Sky Showtime:
Introductory price (2022): 5.99
Price today: 5.99
Atresplayer Premium:
Introductory price (2019): 2.99
Price today: Single plan: 4.99. Family plan: 7.99
DAZN:
Introductory price (2019): 4.99
Price today: Essential Plan: 29.99. Total plan: 39.99
Two people watch Netflix on a television.COTTONBRO STUDIO
If someone wants to complete all of these platforms in their most expensive (and therefore most complete) mode, the monthly price would be 130.91 euros per month (assuming no additional users are added to Netflix). Without DAZN the total price would be 90.92 euros. If we add the costs incurred by the same platforms in the year in which each arrived in Spain, this expense would have been 65.54 euros.
If you look at the individual values individually, large increases can also be seen. Since its launch in Spain in 2019, Apple TV+ has doubled its price. Amazon Prime Video was launched in 2016 and the cost to the user has increased by 150% in annual subscription. Netflix has increased its premium version by 50% and eliminated the cheapest version without ads: either you pay more than before or you subscribe to the plan with ads. And it has limited the ability to share accounts with users outside the home, for which you now have to pay an extra 5.99 euros.
Disney+ is up 71% (and also plans to combat account sharing, although how and what options it will offer has not yet been explained). HBO Max, which launched as HBO Spain, has increased its cost by 25%. Filmin maintains its prices and has even reduced a flat rate for films and series compared to the pioneer subscription in Spain in 2010. SkyShowtime didn’t have time to increase prices and Atresplayer also increased them. DAZN, which specializes in sports content, has by far increased its price the most.
Global phenomenon
Spain is not the only country experiencing this increase, it is a global phenomenon. According to a study by consulting firm Convergence Research Group, reported by the Los Angeles Times, the prices of the top 10 U.S. platforms have risen an average of 10% in 2022 and another 10% so far in 2023 and are expected to rise even further rise more. Next year.
What is happening and why now? There are several reasons that explain these increases. When Prime Video announced its price increase in 2022, it justified it by hiding behind inflation. “The reasons for this change lie in the general and substantial increase in the level of spending due to the increase in inflation affecting the specific costs of the Prime service in Spain and external circumstances that do not depend on Amazon,” they said. . It must be remembered that Amazon Prime, which includes Prime Video, also offers other benefits such as: E.g. free shipping when purchasing its products, Prime Music, Prime Reading, Twitch Prime…
But inflation also (and above all) affects consumers, which is why many have already unsubscribed from some platforms or are more careful when choosing platforms.
A screenshot from Amazon Prime Video.
But inflation is not the only explanation. Over the past year, streaming has entered a new phase: it has moved away from expansion and the pursuit of subscriber growth at all costs and focused on getting more performance from its customers. The aim of the platforms is now to generate profits and be economically sustainable. This explains movements in recent months that would have been previously unthinkable, such as the introduction of advertising-supported plans or the fact that HBO has sold the rights to some of its series to free Internet television services with advertising and that some of its most emblematic titles such as True Blood, Six Feet Under and Blood Brothers can now also be seen on main competitor Netflix.
The platforms were launched with great offers (free trials, 50% off for life on SkyShowtime and HBO Max…) and cheap prices, with the intention of attracting users and making them prisoners: if they are on the platform and you manage it You are essential to her, you have won her. Streaming was an unknown world for users and they had to be drawn somewhere. Hence the flood of constant production and the feeling that you can’t leave because you’re missing too much. But that has changed. They won’t produce that much, nor will the number of subscribers matter that much if they don’t make the most of it. Now they are someone and beyond that there are many. “And what do you do when you control the market? They raise prices,” an expert explained in the Los Angeles Times article cited above.
On the other hand, it is logical that a point will soon be reached where the platforms will reach their maximum user growth. So how can they make more money? Increasing prices for those who are already paying. In a report on the topic in The Verge, an employee at consulting firm Erickson Strategy & Insights explains: “Is there a limit at which it becomes too expensive and people just stop signing up?” Of course. But I think we’re still a long way from that.” Some experts also cite the improvements that screenwriters and actors have made with their respective films, another factor that will lead to higher costs, which will ultimately affect what is paid by subscribers price will impact.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in The Moon Killers. Melinda Sue Gordon
Another reason for these increases is the introduction of new exclusive content. The aforementioned Prime Video increase occurred on September 15, 2022, just two weeks after the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, its most expensive series. Apple TV+’s surge came a few weeks before two of the most anticipated films of the season will debut on its platform, the new films from Martin Scorsese (The Moon Killers) and Ridley Scott (Napoleon), which will be added shortly after their theatrical release added to the Apple TV+ catalog.
The content also explains the increases in Atresplayer Premium with more and more exclusive offers. Movistar Lite, Movistar’s plan to allow non-customers to watch TV, was cheaper but included less content than the current Movistar Plus+ for non-customers, which even lets you watch a game and a movie premiere online. In the case of DAZN, there were a number of competitions that have nothing to do with the current offer. A few days ago it announced that it had acquired the rights to Formula 1 in Spain until 2026.
Is there a way that these increases don’t affect the pocket? The calculations we carry out are based on the maximum prices per platform. Some already have cheaper options with advertising (Netflix, Disney+, soon Amazon) that can save you almost 50%. Although the technical possibilities are more limited, Netflix has already significantly improved the picture quality and even allows downloaders to watch content offline. We have also not taken into account the discounts they sometimes introduce or the promotions they have landed with. In the US, you can also use contract packages from platforms that belong to the same company, such as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ or Paramount+ and Showtime. In Spain, the possibility of contracting some platforms through telephone providers would be closest.
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