Fun with Data - Streaming Illustrated
In the early days of streaming services, the ability to choose content was a valuable resource for viewers and there were no reference points as to the relative value of such services, but as streaming services have proliferated over the years, price points have become more visible as battles for hit content continue to push streaming service providers to spend more for content creation, eventually finding that those costs must be passed on to subscribers. During 2020 and 2021, the COVID pandemic pushed consumers toward almost any kind of streaming content, and monthly bills became secondary to the insatiable need for entertainment, but as the pandemic subsided and subscribers faced the icy fingers of inflation for the first time in many years, they started to think a bit more about what it was they were paying for and how much value it actually had, now that they were no longer tethered to their screens.
As streaming subscribers, we found ourselves in the same situation, subscribed to a number of streaming services, some of which we could not remember why or when we subscribed. Some of that indulgence was due to billing, as direct billing through Paypal (PYPL) or similar services made monthly charges more abstract and bundling under Roku (ROKU) or other services almost hid them all together. Eventually the day comes when subscribers sit down and decide that they must ‘figure it out’ and dump those streamers that provide lesser value.
That said, we were curious to see what the monthly cost of streaming services has done over the last 10+ years, which led us to put together this data on streaming pricing. The most meaningful timeframe is the period from 2019 to 2023, which includes the year preceding COVID and roughly a year (mid 2022 to current) after the pandemic. The overall change in price among the major streaming platforms shown here during that period has declined by 10.5%, with HBO (WBD) leading the charge down with a 33.3% decline in aggregate price. The combined Netflix (NFLX) prices (all tiers) was down 18.8% but Amazon (AMZN) Prime and Hulu were both up over the period by 15.4% and 15.0% respectively, while Disney (DIS) was up 14.3%. While the composite numbers are helpful, the trends are far more obvious when looking at the charts.
We do note that the 10.5% composite price decline seem across all categories over the 5 -year period is primarily a result of Netflix’s price decreases (all categories) this year, which puts its pricing below its initial 2007 pricing, which should indicate the increasingly competitive nature of the streaming business. For those streamers that go back far enough, the 10-year data shows Amazon Prime up the most (81.8%), Hulu up 15% and Netflix up 8.3%, so if you are looking for price stability over time, it would seem Netflix is the choice. Of course, much in the streaming world is based on content offering, but no matter how you look at content, any evaluation would be subjective, which makes it moot in the ‘Fun with Data’ genre, but Figure 7, which shows top 5 streamer subscribers and y/y growth, indicates that the overall subscriber count continues to grow, albeit a bit down from the 2020 – 2022 years. Again, that would seem to indicate that subscribers are still shelling out cash for streaming services but streamers themselves are facing a far more competitive world than in early and pre-pandemic years.
We note that the subscriber data, in most cases, does not come from the steaming services themselves, so we consider the data somewhat questionable, particularly that of Amazon Prime, but it does give some visual representation of the trends.
As streaming subscribers, we found ourselves in the same situation, subscribed to a number of streaming services, some of which we could not remember why or when we subscribed. Some of that indulgence was due to billing, as direct billing through Paypal (PYPL) or similar services made monthly charges more abstract and bundling under Roku (ROKU) or other services almost hid them all together. Eventually the day comes when subscribers sit down and decide that they must ‘figure it out’ and dump those streamers that provide lesser value.
That said, we were curious to see what the monthly cost of streaming services has done over the last 10+ years, which led us to put together this data on streaming pricing. The most meaningful timeframe is the period from 2019 to 2023, which includes the year preceding COVID and roughly a year (mid 2022 to current) after the pandemic. The overall change in price among the major streaming platforms shown here during that period has declined by 10.5%, with HBO (WBD) leading the charge down with a 33.3% decline in aggregate price. The combined Netflix (NFLX) prices (all tiers) was down 18.8% but Amazon (AMZN) Prime and Hulu were both up over the period by 15.4% and 15.0% respectively, while Disney (DIS) was up 14.3%. While the composite numbers are helpful, the trends are far more obvious when looking at the charts.
We do note that the 10.5% composite price decline seem across all categories over the 5 -year period is primarily a result of Netflix’s price decreases (all categories) this year, which puts its pricing below its initial 2007 pricing, which should indicate the increasingly competitive nature of the streaming business. For those streamers that go back far enough, the 10-year data shows Amazon Prime up the most (81.8%), Hulu up 15% and Netflix up 8.3%, so if you are looking for price stability over time, it would seem Netflix is the choice. Of course, much in the streaming world is based on content offering, but no matter how you look at content, any evaluation would be subjective, which makes it moot in the ‘Fun with Data’ genre, but Figure 7, which shows top 5 streamer subscribers and y/y growth, indicates that the overall subscriber count continues to grow, albeit a bit down from the 2020 – 2022 years. Again, that would seem to indicate that subscribers are still shelling out cash for streaming services but streamers themselves are facing a far more competitive world than in early and pre-pandemic years.
We note that the subscriber data, in most cases, does not come from the steaming services themselves, so we consider the data somewhat questionable, particularly that of Amazon Prime, but it does give some visual representation of the trends.
TV Streaming Services - Composite Price Changes - Source: SCMR LLC, Company DataTV Streaming Services
TV Streaming Services - Amazon Prime - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
TV Streaming Services - Netflix - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
TV Streaming Services - HBO - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
TV Streaming Services - Hulu - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
TV Streaming Services - Disney - Source: SCMR LLC, Company Data
Streaming Services - Top 5 - Subscribers & Y/Y ROC - Source: SCMR LLC, various Roly-Poly
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