Is Starz Raising Its Monthly Price? And Will Streamers Keep Raising Prices?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

TV Answer Man, I read on a message board that Starz is raising the price of its monthly plan? Is that true? If it’s true, do you know when it will happen? Is there any end to all these streaming price increases?! — Juliet, Duluth, Minnesota.

Juliet, Starz, the premium channel and streaming service that’s home to such original series as Outlander, Blindspotting and PowerBook II: Ghost as well as recent theatrical films such as Alice, Darling (coming June 28) and Plane (coming July 12), will raise its monthly price on July 18 from $8.99 to $9.99. The price hike will affect both the cable/satellite version of Starz and the streaming plan.

However, there is a way to pay less if you’re a new subscriber, at least for a while. Starz is now offering the first three months for $3 a month. See this page for more details. That would be a $6.99 a month savings for the first three months compared to new price effective July 18.

Now to your second question: The answer is no. There is no end to “all these streaming price increases.”

The streaming industry, which a few years ago offered dirt-cheap prices to build subscription numbers, has changed course and is now focused exclusively on profits. That’s why you are seeing companies such as Warner Bros. Discovery (owner of Max and HBO) and Disney (owner of Disney+) reducing their programming libraries as well as trimming staff.

Company executives are looking for every penny in the sofa cushions now and part of this initiative is to raise prices at regular intervals. If your favorite streaming service hasn’t raised prices in the last year (or less), chances are good it will soon.

Juliet, I wish I had better news. But happy viewing and stay safe!

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.