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Six years ago, when San Jose author Katie Keridan joined Disney+, the cost was just $6.99 a month, giving her family access to hundreds of movies like “The Lion King” and thousands of TV episodes, including Star Wars series “The Mandalorian” with no commercials.

But since then, the price of an ad-free streaming plan has ballooned to $18.99 a month. That was the last straw for 42-year-old Keridan, whose husband canceled Disney+ last month.

“It was getting to where every year, it was going up, and in this economy, every dollar matters, and so we really had to sit down and take a hard look at how many streaming services are we paying for,” Keridan said. “What’s the return on enjoyment that we’re getting as a family from the streaming services? And how do we factor that into a budget to make sure that all of our bills are paid at the end of a month?”

It’s a conversation more people who subscribe to streaming services are having amid an uncertain economy.

Once sold at discounted rates, many platforms have raised prices at a clip consumers say frustrates them. The entertainment companies, under pressure from investors to bolster profits, have justified upping the cost of their plans to help pay for the premium content they provide. But some viewers aren’t buying it.

Customers are paying $22 more for subscription video streaming services than they were a year ago, according to consulting firm Deloitte. As of October, U.S. households on average shelled out $70 a month, compared to $48 a year ago, Deloitte said.

About 70% of consumers surveyed last month said they were frustrated the entertainment services that they subscribe to are raising prices and about a third said they have cut back on subscriptions in the last three months due to financial concerns, according to Deloitte.

“There’s a frustration, just in terms of both apathy, but also from a perspective that they just don’t think it’s worth the monthly subscription cost because of just fatigue,” said Rohith Nandagiri, managing director at Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Disney+ has raised prices on its streaming service nearly every year since it launched in 2019 at $6.99 a month. The company bumped prices on ad-free plans by $1 in 2021, followed by $3 increases in 2022 and 2023, a $2 price raise in 2024 and, most recently, a $3 increase this year to $18.99 a month.

Disney isn’t the only streamer to raise prices. Other companies, including Netflix, HBO Max and Apple TV also hiked prices on many of their subscription plans this year.

Some analysts say streamers are charging more because many services are adding live sports, the rights to which can cost millions of dollars. Streaming services for years have also given consumers access to big budget TV shows and original movies, and as production costs rise, they expect viewers to pay more, too.

But some consumers like Keridan have a different perspective. As much as some streaming platforms are adding new content like live sports, they are also choosing not to renew some big budget shows like “Star Wars: The Acolyte.” Keridan, a Marvel and Star Wars fan, said she mainly watched Disney+ for movies such as “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and shows like “The Mandalorian.” Now she’s going back to watching some programs ad-free on Blu-Ray discs.

While Keridan cut Disney+, her family still subscribes to YouTube Premium and Paramount+. She said she uses YouTube Premium for workout videos instead of paying for a gym membership. Her family enjoys watching Star Trek programs on Paramount+, like the third season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” Keridan said.

Other consumers are choosing to keep their streaming subscriptions but look for cost savings through cheaper plans with ads, or by bundling services.

“Consumers are more willing today than ever to withstand advertising and for the sake of being able to get content for a lower subscription rate,” said Brent Magid, CEO and president of Minneapolis-based media consulting firm Magid. “We’ve seen that number increase just as people’s budgets have gotten tighter.”

Keridan said she’s already cutting other types of spending in her household in addition to quitting Disney+. The amount of money her family spends on groceries has gone up, and in order to save cash, they’ve cut back on traveling for the year. Typically, Keridan says, they would go on two or three vacations annually, but this year, they will only go to Disneyland in Anaheim.

But even the Happiest Place on Earth hasn’t escaped price hikes.

“Just as the streaming fees have risen, park fees have risen,” Keridan said. “And so it just seems every price of anything is rising these days, and they’re now directly in competition with each other. We can’t keep them all, so we have to make hard cuts.”

As the nights start to draw in even earlier leading up to Christmas, TV viewers will be looking for sumptuous dramas to get lost in

ITVX is presently broadcasting a popular period drama featuring a British ruler that’s ideal for a comfortable binge-watch throughout the lengthy winter nights.

With darkness falling increasingly early in the run-up to Christmas, television enthusiasts will be seeking lavish dramas to lose themselves in.

Viewers need look no further than ITV’s digital streaming platform, which boasts an extensive range of celebrated programmes to select from.

Among the finest choices available this winter is the successful series Victoria, which launched in 2016 and featured Doctor Who’s Jenna Coleman as the youthful sovereign, charting her journey from defiant adolescent years through to responsible adulthood over three captivating seasons.

Whilst critics have targeted the programme’s shortage of historical precision, it’s undeniable that the series crafted by Daisy Goodwin provides tremendous entertainment that’s ready for exploration, or potentially a second viewing, reports the Express.

The Guardian’s favourable critique captured the essence: “As ever, it all hinges on Jenna Coleman’s performance as Victoria and her ability to conjure up a portrait of this queen as understanding, sympathetic, kind and decent, even under unimaginable and possibly imaginary pressures.

“It might not be elegant and it might not survive the strain of putting its plot points to the search engine test, but as diverting drama it gets the job done.”

An enthusiastic review from an IMDb viewer declared: “Rather captivating, I loved it. Every inch a Queen.

“I love [Coleman’s] portrayal of Victoria, she has some presence and a definite strength of character. Rufus Sewell I thought was exceptional as Lord Melbourne too, the complex relationship the pair had in real life was explained very well.

“The settings, costumes, and general production values were first rate, the show felt incredibly plush and lavish, I shudder to think of the budget for this series. Totally engaging, this was first rate viewing 9/10.”

Sadly, the series left many fans feeling let down when it was cancelled after just three seasons, leaving Queen Victoria’s story incomplete.

However, ITV gave a glimmer of hope in 2021, stating “there are no plans presently to film Victoria, but that’s not to say we won’t revisit the series with the production team at a later date”, hinting that a fourth season featuring an older Victoria might eventually be on the cards.

One hopeful fan penned: “This has been the most amazing series since Downton Abbey I have watched. I laughed, I cried, I got angry. I felt every emotion humanly possible through watching it.

“My mother and I binge watched it together and couldn’t believe how much it draws you in from beginning to end. I am so heartbroken that it has not yet come out with a 4th season. My mother and I both are. We pray they decide to release another season.

“I plead to ITV or whoever, to please give the green light for the 4th season and then some. This is an amazing love story that NEEDS to be completed.”

There’s a glimmer of hope for the series to carry on if enough viewers rewatch the series on ITVX, so it’s time to start binge-watching.

Victoria is available to stream on ITVX.

The five-part series, penned by a Booker Prize-winning author, has been praised by critics and viewers alike and boasts a smashing 100% rating.

A five-part British crime noir series is earning high praise and, fortunately, it’s available to stream for free on Channel 4.

The limited series Get Millie Black was crafted for television with a screenplay penned by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James, who wrote A Brief History of Seven Killings.

This crime thriller marks Marlon’s screenwriting debut and first premiered on HBO in the United States on November 25, 2024. It then made its UK premiere on Channel 4 on March 5, 2025.

Get Millie Black has been steered by Tanya Hamilton – the show’s lead director – while Annetta Laufer directed two episodes and Jean Luc Herbulot directed one. The series was penned by writers Theresa Ikoko and Lydia Adetunji.

The plot revolves around the unparalleled Millie-Jean Black, a Jamaican-born police detective who is forced to leave Scotland Yard and her troubled life in London and return home to Jamaica, where she joins the Jamaican Police Force.

Once back in Kingston, Millie and her partner Curtis start investigating a missing persons case which intersects with another — bringing Scotland Yard detective Luke Holborn to Millie’s doorstep. The show grapples with complex themes and delves into the painful and troubled legacy of slavery, racism, classism, sexuality, and generational cycles of trauma in the post-colonial Jamaican and British landscape.

Get Millie Black features the brilliant Tamara Lawrance in the starring role, alongside Joe Dempsie, Anjli Mohindra, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Chyna McQueen, Nestor Aaron Absera, and Peter John Thwaites.

The five-part mini series is available to watch without charge on Channel 4, with episodes running for an hour on average, reports the Express.

Discussing Get Millie Black and how Millie’s character came to life, Marlon revealed: “My mother was one of the first policewomen in Jamaica to make detective. Storytelling has always struck me first and foremost as a mystery to be solved – which I’m sure I got from her. Millie, from the second she appeared in my imagination, was a brilliant, mercurial, hilarious, unpredictable force of nature; someone who was always there, just waiting for her story to be told. I didn’t create her, I found her.”

Boasting a perfect 100% score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Get Millie Black has received endless praise from critics, with one penning: “Get Millie Black lives and breathes. This might be a crime thriller, but it isn’t just a crime thriller. In the right hands, a crime thriller can contain multitudes.”

Meanwhile, another reviewer commented: “We got more story in the first 300 seconds than some series manage in an hour-long episode.”

In another glowing review of the series, a third critic remarked: “Crime shows, especially missing girl shows, often feel barren, or at least frozen in their Scandinavian snowscapes. Millie, on the other hand, feels abundant.”

And yet another impressed reviewer said: “Get Millie Black works well as a gory whodunit (with a genuinely unnerving twist at the centre). But the outstanding performances and the crimes in this setting make the show unique.”

Audience reviews follow in a similar vein, with one viewer writing: “All I’m going to say is wow. Watched all episodes in one sitting. Terrific detective series.”

While another audience member commented: “Worth a good watch if you’re interested in crime dramas. Especially if you want something original like this one, which takes place in Jamaica. Matter of fact, you don’t see many Jamaican movies/tv shows nowadays, and I’m glad that I’d checked it out. Great acting, good writing, and pacing that makes the series sort and simple since this is a limited series.”

Get Millie Black is available to stream for free on Channel 4.

Last week, HBO Max announced it raised its standard subscription by $1.50 to $18.49 a month — up 23% from when the streaming service launched five years ago amid the pandemic.

Such announcements have become almost routine in the television business as inflation hits streaming platforms that are under growing pressure to turn a profit and pay for higher programming costs.

Once seen as a cheaper alternative to cable, the cost of a streaming subscription for the top platforms continues to rise, much like higher prices for groceries, gasoline and housing.

In fact, the average price for subscriptions to the top 10 paid subscription streaming services in the U.S. increased 12% this year, following double-digit percentage increases per year since 2022, according to Victoria, British Columbia-based Convergence Research Group.

The research firm included streamers such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Apple TV and others in its data set. It factors subscriptions that are with ads or ad-free and does not take into account bundling. All of the major streaming services in the U.S. raised their prices on plans this year, except for Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video, which boosted rates last year.

The price hikes reflect the tough economic realities of media companies that need to replace dwindling revenue from legacy pay TV channels that have seen sharp declines in viewership.

“The rest of their businesses have effectively been under attack by streaming and so they need this area to be profitable in order to compensate for the decline in their own businesses,” said Brahm Eiley, president of the Convergence Research Group. “It’s been tremendous pressure on them.”

Streaming services have been running as loss leaders for some time, said Tim Hanlon, chief executive of Vertere Group LLC, a media consulting firm.

“There’s no question that streaming is now under the gun to be its own profit center,” Hanlon said.

If rates go much higher, consumers may balk, experts said.

“The industry is playing a dangerous game by continuing to raise prices,” said Andrew Hare, senior vice president for the media research consultancy Magid. “We’re nearing a boiling point of rising churn and overwhelming choice.”

Magid has also already seen an uptick in the percentage of consumers who intend to cancel at least one streaming service in the next six months. The figure was 24% in the second quarter of 2025, up from 19% a year earlier.

“Hard as it is to imagine, the cable bundle is starting to look like a better value all the time,” Hare said.

Here is a look at which major streamers have raised prices on their ad-free streaming plans this year.

HBO Max

HBO Max raised prices across all of its plans. Its lowest-cost, ad-free streaming plan went up by $1.50 to $18.49 a month, while the annual version of that plan also increased $15 to $184.99.

HBO Max’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, had 125.7 million global streaming subscribers in the second quarter, up 22% from a year earlier.

Like other streamers, HBO cited the need to help pay for quality content. The platform offers big-budget shows including drama “The Gilded Age” and “House of the Dragon,” which takes place in the “Game of Thrones” universe.

Consumers should brace themselves for more price hikes. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said at a Goldman Sachs investors conference last month that he believes HBO Max is underpriced.

“We want a good deal for consumers, but I think over time there’s real opportunity, particularly for us in that quality area to raise prices,” Zaslav said.

Peacock

Big-time sports properties have been moving to streaming platforms and guess who is going to help foot the bill? Consumers, of course.

Ahead of becoming a major provider of NBA games this season, Peacock increased prices on its plans, including the premium plus ad-free streaming service, by $3 to $16.99 a month. That was the third price hike since Peacock launched in 2020, where its ad-free plan started at $9.99 a month.

The Comcast-owned streamer, which has 41 million paid subscribers, has weekly games on Mondays and Tuesdays and will have a Peacock exclusive NFL game on Dec. 27. Peacock next year will air the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and continue to stream major sporting events such as NFL games.

In a July earnings call, Comcast Corp. President Mike Cavanagh touted how Peacock will have the most hours of live sports of any streamer next year.

Netflix

Netflix has also gotten into the sports business, with the addition of two NFL games on Christmas Day.

The streamer, which remains the industry juggernaut, is also expected to add Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby and an opening night game when MLB finalizes a new media rights deal this year.

The company cited its entry into high-priced sports when it raised its prices on most of its plans, including on its cheapest ad-free monthly plan by $2.50 to $17.99 in the U.S. earlier this year.

“As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” Netflix said in a letter to shareholders in January.

The slice of sports is coming at the expense of fans who need multiple subscriptions — if they want to keep up with every NFL game.

“A certain type of fan is starting to recognize they are being fleeced,” Hanlon said.

Higher prices on ad-free plans can help drive traffic to a streamer’s lowest-priced plans with ads. Netflix launched its subscription plan with ads in 2022 at $6.99 a month and it has only increased by a $1 to $7.99 a month since then in January 2025.

While many major streamers offer cheaper plans with ads, others offer free streaming services with ads such as the Roku Channel or Tubi.

A recent research study by Magid found that three-quarters of consumers are fine with watching commercials, if it saves them money.

Four in 10 said they’re “overwhelmed” by the number of services they use. The average number of streaming subscriptions per household in the third quarter is 4.6, up from 4.1 the previous year.

“Together, these trends point to a more value-driven streaming consumer seeking affordability and simplicity,” the study said.

Apple TV

Apple TV was once one of the lowest-priced subscription service plans, launching at $4.99 a month. Since then, prices for Apple’s video streaming service have increased to $12.99 a month, with its latest price jump of $3 in August.

The Cupertino-based company has been trying to make its streaming business more financially sound, but faces a formidable task as it has been a big spender in attracting name talent to its programs and movies.

When Apple TV first launched, it had just nine programs, but since then has expanded its library to include critically acclaimed shows and films including comedy “Ted Lasso,” drama “Severance” and “The Studio.”

Apple said in a statement that while it did raise its prices on its standard monthly ad-free plan, the cost of its annual subscription remains at $99 and Apple One bundled packages did not change.

Disney+

Last month, Disney+ announced it would increase the cost of its ad-free streaming plan by $3 to $18.99 a month. Hulu did not increase its price on its ad-free monthly streaming plan.

It was the fourth consecutive year the Burbank entertainment giant has boosted its streaming prices since launching Disney+ six years ago, when the service cost just $6.99 a month.

Despite the recent price hikes from Disney and others, Eiley from Convergence Research Group thinks there’s still room for customer growth.

At the end of last year, just 36% of U.S. households had a traditional TV subscription, compared with more than half of U.S. households in mid-2022, according to Convergence Research Group data. By the end of 2028, the research firm forecasts just 21% of households will have traditional TV subscriptions.

“There’s still a massive amount of cord cutting going on,” Eiley said.