Over the last 18 months, we at The Streamable have covered too many streaming price increases to count. Nearly every major streaming service has raised its rates in that time, including Apple TV+ and Peacock. These streamers are both chasing the elusive metric of profitability, but have the price hikes helped, or driven customers away? New data from Parrot Analytics shows that both streamers have benefited greatly by raising prices, and despite complaints from consumers, streaming services are likely to keep raising rates so long as they continue to see favorable results.

Key Details:

• Revenue at Apple TV+ and Peacock jumped by at least 49.5% in the quarters following price increases.
• Both services saw initial churn from the rate hikes, but that effect seems to be temporary.
• Peacock’s reality programming is paying big dividends for the streamer.

According to Parrot’s data, both Apple TV+ and Peacock saw significant gains in revenue after raising streaming prices. Apple TV+’s last price hike — which saw the streamer go from $7 per month to $10 in October 2023 — caused global revenue in the four subsequent quarters to jump 50.2% as compared to the four preceding quarters.

Peacock is also reaping the benefits of raising its subscription rate. In July 2024, the streamer increased the price of its ad-supported Peacock Premium tier from $6 to $8 per month, and from $10 to $14 for its ad-free Premium Plus option. Revenue grew for the streamer by 49.5% in the third quarter of 2024 over Q2, and Peacock’s most recent earnings report shows that it has continued to narrow its losses to close out the year, even as total subscribers remained flat in Q4.

That likely has something to do with the churn reaction generated by the price increase. Parrot shows that Peacock’s churn rate rose from 5.59% in Q1 2024 to 7.45% in Q3, the first quarter after raising prices. Peacock executives likely don’t have to fret, however; the data shows that while Apple TV+’s churn rate spiked to 10.21% after it raised rates in 2023, that percentage has fallen three quarters in a row, and sits at 6.76% as of Q3 2024.

Peacock’s content strategy will also likely help keep customers subscribed. Parrot dug deeply into the streamer’s analytics and discovered that reality shows sourced from Bravo like “Below Deck: Mediterranean,” as well as the Peacock original series “The Traitors” have brought in tens of millions of dollars to the service in the past few years.

The American version of “The Traitors” has pulled $26.7 million of revenue to Peacock since the first quarter of 2023, and “Below Deck: Mediterranean” has generated another $37.2 million since 2020. Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” has also contributed greatly, creating $35.2 million for Peacock since 2021.

Streaming price increases are never fun for customers, and many decide to cancel streaming plans or move to ad-supported tiers to save money as a result. Parrot’s data demonstrates, however, that they work for the streamers who enact them, and that means streaming providers aren’t likely to stop raising rates, at least until they’ve achieved healthy profit margins.