Poll Finds Americans Want to Pay a Combined $21/Month for All Their Streaming Services
According to a new Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll, many Americans who stream media pay an average $37 per month, though the preferred price for most households would be a combined total of $21. The study begs the question of whether or not consumers will prioritize price over brand loyalty as a host of new streaming services start to launch, beginning in the fall.
With Disney, WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal and Apple getting ready to launch, they may not need to be the best ones offered in the U.S. in order to thrive, but the new data suggests that being in the Top 3 would give them a leg up. Disney+ which is meant to launch on November 12, will be priced at $6.99 while WarnerMedia’s HBO Max will reportedly come in at $17. NBCUniversal's service will be free to anyone who subscribes to a pay TV service (including vMVPDs) while the pricing for Apple TV+ is yet to be revealed . Netflix, which has been in the streaming game for years and boasts 151 million subscribers despite losing subscribers for the first time in history this past quarter, offers a basic plan for $8.99 and $12.99 for a standard plan.
The survey also found that despite the fact the these new services are being marketed by media conglomerates, there’s still a ways to go as many potential customers havent heard of them. According to the poll, 26 percent of adult Americans have heard nothing at all about Disney+, which is only a small improvement over the 30 percent who responded in a similar fashion to a poll seven months earlier. About 35 percent of American adults have heard nothing of Apple’s upcoming product, while 40 percent haven’t heard of WarnerMedia’s plans and 46 percent haven’t heard of NBCU’s.
Of the new streaming services about to launch, most analysts say that Disney is in the best position to meaningfully challenge Netflix, given its deep library (especially after acquiring the 20th Century Fox film and TV studio), brand-name recognition, dominance of recent box office trends and strong franchise properties related to Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. Shows and movies that Disney once licensed to Netflix and others will soon head exclusively to Disney+.