Streaming services are all the rage these days, with more Americans cutting the cord or subscribing to Netflix and other services than before. With many attractive services to pick up on the horizon, consumers will need to decide which services are worth the money, and which aren't. Now, a new study has revealed the price most folks say they are willing to pay for a Netflix-like experience, with most saying a price range of around $10 to $16 is acceptable.
Presently, $15.99 is what one would pay for the top tier of Netflix's pricing, which includes downloading privileges for four devices and access to HD and Ultra HD. It sounds like Netflix set the standard for future competitors, who may not fare well trying to push subscription prices above that ceiling. That's not to say it can't be done, although a new streaming service hoping to gain a large new subscriber base may struggle finding an audience.
This could be a problem for Disney, who THR reports may have unhappy shareholders as Disney+ premieres. The service will need an estimated 7 million subscribers to recoup the $500 million it was getting yearly from Netflix. Realistically, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield thinks Disney+ will only have around 2 million subscribers by the end of 2019. That's based off an estimated $7 subscription rate though, and Disney still has yet to say what price it will charge.
The $10 to $16 price range is only acceptable to consumers getting an experience similar to Netflix, however, and not all upcoming streaming services are planning that. For example, NBCUniversal's service plans to run commercials, which has consumers saying they'd pay less for something of that caliber. That acceptable price range falls in the $8 to $12 range, with the ideal price many would like set at $10.
Weirdly enough, the acceptable price range has little to no drop when segregating movies and TV. The acceptable price range of $8 to $12 remains the same for a service that offers unlimited television, and that range only increases to $13 in the case of unlimited movies. Perhaps Hulu has been doing this thing all wrong, and needs to start separating the two in order to double dip?
Once the price is attractive enough, these new streaming services will then have to convince consumers the service is worth the price to own. That may be a challenge as more and more services with strong content flood the market, as some households juggling both streaming and TV could rack up some hefty entertainment bills. Ugh. Can't we just go back to the days where all the stuff worth watching on streaming was on one service?
Don't stress about the price of exciting streaming services just yet, as there's still plenty of great television in 2019 available through traditional television. See what's on tap for the first part of the year by visiting our midseason premiere guide.
