Analysis: a basket of the top US streaming services will cost $87 per month this fall, vs. $73 a year ago; the average US cable TV package costs $83 per month
Subscribing to the top US streaming services will cost $87 this autumn, compared with $73 a year ago. Meanwhile the average cable TV package costs $83 a month. — This isn't sustainable and I expect one or more of these streaming services to throw in the towel within the next year or two. … Bluesky: Emil Protalinski / @epro.social : Sure, but the difference is that with streaming, I can pick and choose. If I want to pay 15%, I can just subscribe to Netflix. If I want to subscribe all of them and cancel the ones I don't like anymore, I can. — Cable sucks because it's all or nothing, not because it's expensive. [embedded post] TvmoJoe / @tvmojoe.bsky.social : Some Hollywood CEOs have been making noise about the idea of reinventing the cable bundle for streaming, and even Netflix has allowed itself to be sold in a package. So is the TV bundle finally ready to rise again? My latest for Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/... X: Holger Zschaepitz / @schuldensuehner : Streaming prices are spiking - the major streaming services have now hiked prices to such a degree that a basket of the major ones is more expensive than a traditional cable bundle. https://www.ft.com/... (HT @knowledge_vital) [image] Daman Rangoola / @damanr : Not only are you paying more, you have to deal with separate logins, separate payments, separate apps, and have no idea where the stuff you want to watch is. We did it! https://www.ft.com/... [image] Ana Milicevic / @aexm : Every couple of months a comparison b/w the old cable model & the new steaming one pops up to say essentially how, look, we're back to the old system. Except we're not: consumers don't want to keep paying for crap they don't want. https://www.ft.com/... @colbycolb : It was always inevitable, they will start combining after this strike is over. Hard to compete with Amazon, Netflix and Apple. They have endless resources and multiple streams of income. Trillion dollar values. It's going to be interesting how this plays out. Tren Griffin / @trengriffin : “A basket of the top US streaming services will cost $87 per month this fall."' That a large percentage of the US market will pay for this basket is not reality-based. It is pretending. https://www.ft.com/... @rossmcgivern : @mediagazer Since when is it a necessity to have all streaming services at the same time? @tofdaj : “Analysis” Ignores 1) set up fees 2) monthly vs lock in contract 3) on demand vs linear 4) ADVERTISING load 5) improved UX Taylor Clauson / @taylor_w_c : if the streaming basket were significantly more expensive, i'd still want it. i call it the “not having to deal with comcast customer service premium” @tvgrimreaper : Analysis: FT makes a nonsense comparison between a divisible “basket” of streaming services and an indivisible cable TV package. You can pick and choose among the first. The second is all or nothing (that's why it's the best entertainment business ever). See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Streaming was sold as a cheaper, tailored alternative, but earlier coverage noted that proliferating exclusive services were already making viewers pay for content they did not watch. The latest price comparison shows that fragmentation has eroded that original value proposition.
The pressure is not only on the headline monthly total: major ad-free plans were raised nearly 25% in roughly a year, while smaller-service bundles and telco-led aggregation were being explored as alternatives to a single unified interface.
First-order effects
- Households subscribing across the leading services face an $87 monthly bill this fall, exceeding the cited $83 average cable package and up from $73 a year earlier.
- The cost gap makes selective subscribing and cancelling a more immediate consumer response than maintaining every service at once.
Second-order effects
- Streamers face greater pressure to justify standalone subscriptions through differentiated programming, lower-priced ad-supported options, or participation in bundles.
- Bundling intermediaries—including smaller services and potentially telcos—gain a clearer pitch as the accumulated direct-to-consumer bill approaches or exceeds cable pricing.
Third-order effects
- If price increases and exclusivity continue together, streaming may recreate cable’s bundle economics while retaining more consumer flexibility; the durable differentiator becomes how easily customers can assemble and leave a package.
- Higher churn would make subscriber scale less dependable as a measure of platform strength, increasing pressure on services whose economics require broad, sustained paid reach.
The trend: Streaming is shifting from low-cost unbundling toward a fragmented, higher-priced subscription market where aggregation and churn management matter as much as standalone growth.