This is something that should have been expected. It seems that about every week, we get news of a price increase for streaming services. Apple TV+ hiked its price from $4.99/month to $6.99/month. Disney+ will raise the price for its ad-free tier from $7.99/month to $10.99/month with a $7.99/month ad-supported tier coming. This will take place on December 8th. As for Hulu, the ad-supported plan jumped from $6.99/month to $7.99/month, and the ad-free plan jumped from $12.99/month to $14.99/month. YouTube Music is going to raise its family plan from $17.99/month to $22.99/month. Also, we can’t forget the previous Netflix price hike which saw all of the plans jump up in price.
Now, Paramount+ is expecting a price increase
This information comes from Paramount’s Chief financial officer David Chopra. In a statement, he said that the company “sees opportunities to increase price on Paramount+”. That’s about the most PR thing anyone could say about a price increase. This “opportunity” will arise because prices across streaming services are going up. In case you don’t know, the economy is in a bit of a rough spot- as we all are after the Coronavirus pandemic. So, streaming services, especially streaming services that produce original content, are feeling economic pressure. This pressure is making its way down to the viewers in the form of higher monthly payments. So, it’s surprising that Paramount+ held out this long. At this point, we have no idea How much a Paramount+ subscription will cost after the price increase. The company revealed that it rose the price of subscriptions in Canada from $5.99 CAD/month to $9 CAD/month. That’s a pretty big jump. However, Chopra did say that the company wants the ad-supported plan to “serve price-sensitive users.” So, the plan may go up, but not by much. The situation with Paramount+ is much like with Spotify. Spotify has seen some major gains over the past year, but it’s still increasing its price. In Paramount+’s case, the company was able to add an additional 4.6 million subscribers this quarter, and that brings its total subscriber count to 46 million. So, the company is seeing an increase in paying subscribers. The fact that it has to raise its prices is a testament to how much the economy is affecting companies.
