Americans spend way too much money on streaming and we know it

The average streaming service user pays for four different services that cost an average of around $69 a month (nice, but not nice), according to Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends report. This is up 13% from last year, reflecting the slight price hikes we’ve seen across streaming platforms this year. 41% of consumers said the content available on their Subscription Video on Demand service (SVOD) is not worth the price. This is up by a whopping five percentage points from 2024’s report. So evidently, people really are starting to feel like the price of streaming is not living up to its library.

Accordingly, 47% of consumers think they pay too much for the streaming services they use. You might think that the streaming giants could not get away with continuously raising prices. However, even though more users have become dissatisfied, they continue subscribing to the same number of streaming services: four. The average price for a single service’s premium, ad-free tier is $16, but many services charge more than that. Consumers surveyed by Deloitte say that $14 is the sweet spot for an ad-free subscription, which is a little below the current average but very, very below Netflix’s price. It’s funny because $25 is considered “too much to pay” by respondents, which is Netflix’s premium tier monthly rate.

I expect to see many people cancel their services with the price increases. I mean, in this economy?! People said that if a service increased their prices by $5, then over half of them would cancel their subscription. It is unlikely that an increase like this happens overnight. Instead, it comes in small increments, and then all of sudden, it’s increased by $5. Despite this, the number of people cancelling a service is increasing. According to Deloitte, 39% say they have cancelled at least one paid service in the last six months. This number jumps up to 50% for Gen Z and millennials. Those generations consume other media like video games and podcasts, which could contribute to this trend, according to Deloitte’s report.

The sad truth is that the streaming giants raising their prices the most are the ones that don’t lose many subscribers because of their dominance over the industry. Meanwhile, smaller services may not fit into people’s budgets anymore because of their reduced pricing power over larger services. Remember, you’re a consumer with purchasing power, so choose the content you really appreciate and exercise it.