Against the background of the currently rising prices in the streaming area on the one hand and the growing range of services on the other hand, we asked our readers for their opinion. How are these changes affecting streaming users?
During Corona, streaming services experienced an unprecedented boom. Now, however, prices are rising continuously because of this and external factors such as energy prices. At the same time, the number of services and offers is growing. How are these developments affecting users? To find out, TECHBOOK compared the price increases of the five largest streaming providers in Germany. On the other hand, we asked our readers whether the changed circumstances had an impact on their streaming behavior. The result was quite surprising.
Price developments of streaming services from 2012 to 2022
In the past few months, there has been one announcement about upcoming price increases after the next. In this regard, the streaming market was no exception. Just recently, both Netflix and Amazon Prime – and thus the integrated streaming service Prime Video – raised their prices.
TECHBOOK has the price developments of the five most popular streaming providers examined more closely in Germany: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+ and Sky.
For the purpose of approximate comparability of the data, we have greatly simplified the data, especially for Sky and the streaming service Wow, which has been part of it since summer 2022. Accordingly, we limited ourselves to the online offer of films and series and left out the sports packages, for example. The same applies to changes that only affect a certain tariff under certain conditions, such as a price change in combination with a Sky receiver.
In addition, the tariffs for Netflix differ in scope and streaming quality, but with other services such as Disney + only in their payment method – monthly or annually. With Amazon Prime Video, you also have to take into account that the price quoted includes the other Prime services.
In a direct comparison, it is noticeable that Netflix has not touched the price of the basic subscription since it was launched, but the premium package with four simultaneous streams and picture quality in 4K is the most expensive compared to the competition. Most recently, the price jump was 8.23 percent for the basic package and even 12.51 percent for the premium subscription. This is followed by the Sky Wow film and series package, which became even cheaper in 2022 due to the switch from Sky Entertainment and Cinema to Sky Wow (minus 33 and 40 percent respectively). Prime Video and Disney+ are quite close together, with the price increase for Prime representing an increase of 12.5 (per month) and 30 percent (per month). Apple TV+ is by far the cheapest at €4.99 per month; the price has not changed since the service was launched in 2019.
The big streaming survey by TECHBOOK
In order to get a more accurate picture of how the rising prices of streaming providers are being received by users, we asked the TECHBOOK readers about their streaming behavior and their opinion. On the one hand, we asked which streaming service or services the readers subscribed to. Based on this, the survey participants were asked to indicate which of these services, if they subscribed, they could most likely do without and why. Finally, we were interested in how many services the participants subscribed to in total.
Almost 40,000 people took part in the survey, the result is not representative. Except for the first question, which streaming services were subscribed to, multiple answers were not possible. As with the price study, we limited our selection to the most popular streaming services in Germany: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Sky and Apple TV+.
Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are the most used streaming services
Unsurprisingly, when asked which provider is actually used, the two big names lead: Netflix (27.54 percent) and Amazon Prime Video (32.59 percent). Behind them were Disney+ (15.79 percent) and Sky (13.58 percent) quite close together, Apple TV+ came in fifth (3.92 percent). Around 6.5 percent of those surveyed also stated that they use other streaming services.
On the one hand, Amazon’s leading position can probably be explained by the wide range, which, in addition to the actual content, also offers the option of renting or buying titles. In addition, the streaming service is part of the much more extensive Prime offer, which also includes a music streaming service and the Prime shipping option via the Amazon shop.
Netflix, on the other hand, was considered a pioneer and top dog for many years anyway. Only for a few years has the provider had to deal with growing competition, which is getting ever closer to him. Many also combine the streaming services with each other. Only 19.27 percent stated that they only use one platform. The options to stream via two, three or even more services gave 25.28 to 28.59 percent respectively.
Netflix’s popularity is unbroken
When asked which streaming service our readers could most likely do without, the distribution was similar – with one big exception. Netflix ended up in last – and actually first – place with only 14.5 percent. Despite the comparatively high price, the provider seems to be indispensable for many users.
Amazon Prime Video (33.54 percent) came in first again. This is certainly partly, but not entirely, to be explained by the more complex overall offer. Many Prime users unintentionally book the streaming service within the package and could do without it, but do not want to give up the other Prime advantages. Apple TV+ (16.76 percent), Disney+ (18.46 percent) and Sky (16.73 percent) are otherwise close together.
Also interesting: streaming services in a big comparison
Price is not the deciding factor for many
For us, the question of why was particularly exciting – especially against the background of rising prices everywhere. Do these lead to people canceling their streaming subscription altogether or switching to a cheaper provider?
In fact, the TECHBOOK survey clearly showed that in many cases the price would not be the determining factor for termination. The selection of films and series came in first with 47.98 percent. On the one hand, of course, this is closely linked to the price; if you pay little, you may overlook a less comprehensive offer. However, Apple TV+’s voting numbers suggest that the link between price and performance isn’t all that tight for many. The streaming service offers significantly less content than the competition, but at 4.99 euros per month it is also by far the cheapest. With productions like the multi-award-winning “Ted Lasso” or “The Morning Show”, you can’t complain about the quality of the content either.
The “too expensive” option only came in second, and at 27.24 percent, by a wide margin. Incidentally, only 2.68 percent gave technology and service as a reason for termination. 22.43 percent would terminate their current streaming service for another reason.
So far, price increases have had little impact on streaming behavior
Although prices have steadily increased over the past few years and more recently with inflation and energy costs, streaming services in general are still popular. The established names such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are still convincing. The jump to what is now the most expensive subscription in comparison has apparently not harmed the latter. The offer as a whole still convinces many users. And although the Amazon Prime price increase in the summer of 2022 caused severe criticism, this does not seem to be a reason for many to generally do without a streaming service.
In the general price comparison, the providers are close together, although the content sometimes differs greatly and is also becoming more and more exclusive. Only Netflix stand out with its 17.99 euro premium subscription on the one hand and Apple TV+ with its top-class but less comprehensive tariff for 4.99 euros on the other.
Sources
- extra (“Which of these paid streaming services do you use?”, retrieved on 08/18/2022)
- Netflix (accessed on 09/20/2022)
- extra (“Netflix now costs up to 15.99 a month”, retrieved on 09/19/2022)
- DWDL (“Amazon introduces Prime Instant Video in Germany”, retrieved on September 20, 2022)
- DWDL (“Prime is becoming more expensive: Amazon is significantly increasing prices”, retrieved on September 20, 2022)
- daily News (“Amazon Prime is getting more expensive”, retrieved on 09/20/2022)
- DisneyPlus (accessed on 09/20/2022)
- Apple (accessed on 09/20/2022)
- sky (“The new Sky Entertainment experience – more convenience, more choice, more on demand”, retrieved on September 26, 2022)
- Sky offers (retrieved on 09/26/2022)