Latest news with #TV+
Business Insider
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Streaming services are getting more expensive — and many viewers are turning to free TV alternatives like YouTube
Prices for paid streaming services have ballooned in the last few years. As costs climb, YouTube and other free streamers are capitalizing and gaining TV audience share. These free-to-access alternatives could disrupt streamers, which once disrupted pay TV. Couch potatoes sick of stream-flation are increasingly tuning into free services like YouTube on their TVs. Streaming services have gone from a cheap cable alternative to a pricier proposition in recent years, as Wall Street has pushed media companies to prioritize profit over subscriber growth. Subscribing to the ad-free versions of eight major streaming services in the US now costs nearly $122 per month, up from about $83 in May 2021, according to an analysis by Business Insider. Apple TV+ and the ad-free version of Disney+ have each doubled in price in that span. Many streamers have also raised prices on their ad-supported plans. That includes Peacock, which is hiking prices by $3 across both its plans this week, as Vulture first reported. As streaming prices rise, so has demand for free streamers. Since Nielsen began publishing its monthly streaming usage report in May 2021, YouTube's connected TV viewership share in the US has soared from 5.7% to a market-leading 12.8% in June. No paid streamer is close, as Netflix's share has hovered around 8% for a year, while Disney+ and Hulu are at 4.8% combined. Free, ad-supported streamers like Tubi and The Roku Channel have also gained. Tubi, Fox's free streamer, put itself on the Nielsen map after its viral Super Bowl ad in February 2023 and has since more than doubled its viewership share to 2.2%. The Roku Channel is growing even faster and came in at 2.5% in June. It overtook Tubi last fall and is also above Paramount+, Peacock, and HBO Max. These free streamers are far more popular than analyst Naveen Sarma, the media and entertainment director at S&P Global Ratings, would have expected. Consumers "seem to be willing to put up with ads to not pay whatever pay TV or the streaming subscription costs are," Sarma told BI. He added that even if ads annoy young people, they may not mind streaming ads if they're scrolling on a second screen anyway. Free streamers began to blossom just as their paid counterparts aggressively hiked prices. "There's definitely a correlation," Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall told BI. However, Cahall doesn't see causation, noting that paid streaming's share is more stagnant than sinking. That suggests to him that free services are mainly luring audiences from cable. Melissa Otto of S&P Global Visible Alpha said that while consumers may be looking to pay less, she doesn't see "YouTube's free service taking share from paid services." That said, media companies trying to scale their subscription businesses should be wary of free streamers. Streaming's viewership share surpassed that of broadcast and cable combined for the first time ever in May, according to Nielsen. If audiences fleeing traditional TV are turning to free streamers instead of paying up, it might not be long before paid streamers stop growing. "This is a problem for the streamers because subscriber growth in the US is slowing," UBS media analyst John Hodulik told BI. Paid streaming growth in the US has cooled while cancellations have risen, which has led to narrower net subscriber additions, according to subscription data firm Antenna. "Consumers are certainly signing up for less streaming services, and they're more willing to churn on and off of these streaming services as the content that they want to watch, the season, ends," Sarma said. In turn, streamers hiked prices and hoped to spark growth with password-sharing crackdowns. Cahall said some streamers have also cut back on content spending, which means that subscribers are getting a worse deal. Antenna This less-for-more approach may not be sustainable, Sarma said. He said streamers are hitting a wall with price hikes in light of economic uncertainty and the advent of low-cost alternatives. Streamers should know this cycle well. Streaming services took off a decade ago as pay TV stagnated. Cable companies began to charge each customer more, which led to cancellations, which led to further price hikes that exacerbated the declines — and the vicious cycle continued. Now, streaming has surpassed traditional TV and is the incumbent, and free streamers are the cheap challenger. What goes around, comes around.
Business Insider
22-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Free TV services like YouTube are soaring in the face of stream-flation
Prices for paid streaming services have ballooned in the last few years. As costs climb, YouTube and other free streamers are capitalizing and gaining TV audience share. These free-to-access alternatives could disrupt streamers, which once disrupted pay TV. Couch potatoes sick of stream-flation are increasingly tuning into free services like YouTube on their TVs. Streaming services have gone from a cheap cable alternative to a pricier proposition in recent years, as Wall Street has pushed media companies to prioritize profit over subscriber growth. Subscribing to the ad-free versions of eight major streaming services in the US now costs nearly $122 per month, up from about $83 in May 2021, according to an analysis by Business Insider. Apple TV+ and the ad-free version of Disney+ have each doubled in price in that span. Many streamers have also raised prices on their ad-supported plans. That includes Peacock, which is hiking prices by $3 across both its plans this week, as Vulture first reported. As streaming prices rise, so has demand for free streamers. Since Nielsen began publishing streaming ratings in May 2021, YouTube's connected TV viewership share in the US has soared from 5.7% to a market-leading 12.8% in June. No paid streamer is close, as Netflix's share has hovered around 8% for a year, while Disney+ and Hulu are at 4.8% combined. Free, ad-supported streamers like Tubi and The Roku Channel have also gained. Tubi, Fox's free streamer, put itself on the Nielsen map after its viral Super Bowl ad in February 2023 and has since more than doubled its viewership share to 2.2%. The Roku Channel is growing even faster and came in at 2.5% in June. It overtook Tubi last fall and is also above Paramount+, Peacock, and HBO Max. These free streamers are far more popular than analyst Naveen Sarma, the media and entertainment director at S&P Global Ratings, would have expected. Consumers "seem to be willing to put up with ads to not pay whatever pay TV or the streaming subscription costs are," Sarma told BI. He added that even if ads annoy young people, they may not mind streaming ads if they're scrolling on a second screen anyway. Free streamers aren't cannibalizing their paid peers — yet Free streamers began to blossom just as their paid counterparts aggressively hiked prices. "There's definitely a correlation," Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall told BI. However, Cahall doesn't see causation, noting that paid streaming's share is more stagnant than sinking. That suggests to him that free services are mainly luring audiences from cable. Melissa Otto of S&P Global Visible Alpha said that while consumers may be looking to pay less, she doesn't see "YouTube's free service taking share from paid services." That said, media companies trying to scale their subscription businesses should be wary of free streamers. Streaming's viewership share surpassed that of broadcast and cable combined for the first time ever in May, according to Nielsen. If audiences fleeing traditional TV are turning to free streamers instead of paying up, it might not be long before paid streamers stop growing. "This is a problem for the streamers because subscriber growth in the US is slowing," UBS media analyst John Hodulik told BI. Paid streaming growth in the US has cooled while cancellations have risen, which has led to narrower net subscriber additions, according to subscription data firm Antenna. "Consumers are certainly signing up for less streaming services, and they're more willing to churn on and off of these streaming services as the content that they want to watch, the season, ends," Sarma said. In turn, streamers hiked prices and hoped to spark growth with password-sharing crackdowns. Cahall said some streamers have also cut back on content spending, which means that subscribers are getting a worse deal. This less-for-more approach may not be sustainable, Sarma said. He said streamers are hitting a wall with price hikes in light of economic uncertainty and the advent of low-cost alternatives. Streamers should know this cycle well. Streaming services took off a decade ago as pay TV stagnated. Cable companies began to charge each customer more, which led to cancellations, which led to further price hikes that exacerbated the declines — and the vicious cycle continued. Now, streaming has surpassed traditional TV and is the incumbent, and free streamers are the cheap challenger. What goes around, comes around.
Hypebeast
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Apple TV+ Debuts First Look at 'Ted Lasso' Season 4
Summary Bring out your AFC Richmond jerseys —Ted LassoSeason 4 has officially begun production, withApple TV+sharing a first look at the return of the beloved series. The first-look image sees a portion of the original cast, namely Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, Juno Temple as Keeley Jones, Hannah Waddingham as Rebecca Welton and Jeremy Swift as Leslie Heggins, sitting at a restaurant table while lovingly looking at each other. Season 4's official logline reads, 'Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women's football team. Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.' Also reprising their roles from the previous seasons are Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent and Brendan Hunt as Coach Beard. Meanwhile, Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Abbie Hern and Grant Feely will join the cast. Feely will take over the role of Ted's son Henry; the characters of the rest of the cast are yet to be announced. The return of the rest of AFC Richmond, including Phil Dunster's Jamie Tartt and Nick Mohammed's Nate Shelley, were not revealed. Ted Lassofirst debuted in 2020 and went on to run for three seasons. It was nominated for a whopping 61 Emmy Awards and took home 13, including Outstanding Comedy Series and acting awards. Take a look at the new image and above and stay tuned for an official trailer and release date.
UPI
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
'Shape Island' stop-motion series renewed for Season 2
Apple TV+ announced a second season of "Shape Island" on Monday. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ July 21 (UPI) -- Apple TV+ announced Monday that the kids stop-motion series Shape Island is returning for a sophomore season. Season 2 arrives on the streamer Aug 29. Shape Island takes its inspiration from the picture books created by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen -- who are also the show's creators and executive producers. "Join serious Square, intrepid Circle and tricky Triangle as they dig up some fun, search for answers and build on their friendship -- all while learning how to navigate each other's differences. Shape Island shows kids that friendship can take many shapes," an official synopsis reads. The voice cast includes Yvette Nicole Brown, Harvey Guillen, Scott Adsit and Gideon Adlon.
Daily Mirror
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
BBC TV licence: Netflix users urged to check if they can avoid £174 fee
If you only watch Netflix or any other streaming service that isn't BBC iPlayer - for example, Amazon Prime, ITVX, Disney Plus, YouTube, All 4 or My5 - then you wouldn't need to pay for a TV licence Netflix users can avoid paying the £174.50 TV licence fee if they don't watch live shows on the streaming service. You need a TV licence if you watch or record live TV. You also need one if you watch anything on BBC iPlayer, regardless or whether it is live or catch-up. But if you don't watch any live TV, then you likely don't need to pay for a TV licence. This means if you only watch Netflix or any other streaming service that isn't BBC iPlayer - for example, Amazon Prime, ITVX, Disney Plus, YouTube, All 4 or My5 - then you wouldn't need to pay for a TV licence. However, if you watch live shows through these streaming services, then you would need a TV licence. If you're caught watching programmes that require a TV licence, then you could be fined up to £1,000. The maximum fine is £2,000 in Guernsey, plus any legal costs or compensation you may be ordered to pay. If you don't need a TV licence, you can fill in a declaration on the TV Licensing website. On the TV Licensing website, it explains that if you don't have a TV Licence, you can legally watch: Catch up programmes on services other than BBC iPlayer, such as ITVX, All4 and My5 On demand films or TV shows that you watch, rent or buy online from providers like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sky, EE TV, Sky, Apple TV+, Disney+ or Now S4C programmes on demand DVDs or Blu-rays YouTube streamers' videos or clips live or recorded There are certain groups of people that can get a free or discounted TV licence - scroll below to see who is eligible. A licence covers you to watch shows on your TV, tablet, mobile, computer, console or set-top box. Full list of everyone who can get free or cheap TV licence Over-75 and claiming Pension Credit: People aged over 75 who are claiming Pension Credit can get a free TV licence. Students living away from home: Students who are living away from home may also be covered if their parents have a TV licence, but only if they're watching TV on a device that isn't plugged into the mains, such as a phone, tablet or laptop. People who are blind or severely sight-impaired: If someone in your household is blind or severely sight-impaired, you'll get 50% off the cost of your TV licence.
