Streaming Was Supposed to Be Cheaper—So Why Are Costs Up 18% This Year?

According to our State of Consumer Media Spending 2025 report, the average American now spends $51.71 per month on streaming services — up 18% from 2024. That increase leads to customers now spending $620 annually to stream TV (a staggering $37,230 over a lifetime).

What used to seem like an inexpensive monthly bill has crept up over the years, but is it just a matter of streaming service cost increases from the industry, or is it more about consumer behavior?

People are stacking multiple streaming service subscriptions in order to catch all their favorite TV shows and sports programming. In fact, the average American has 2.68 subscriptions on average — a 22% increase from the last report.

One additional streaming service might seem insignificant by comparison, but when it stretches to two, three, or more services, then the effect becomes far more noticeable.

Services have giant rotating libraries — more than any one person could ever watch — but to get specific shows and exclusive events (namely, sports), you’ll have to draw from multiple sources.

Streaming live sports or on-demand sports programming typically requires special packages and add-ons, and it isn’t cheap. About 75% of people say sports are too expensive to keep up with. And it’s costly enough that 27% use unauthorized streams in order to tune in.

With specific sports content spread across different platforms, about half of respondents said they either missed games (53%) or couldn’t find games (45%).

To add to the channel-changing and service-switching frustration, live sports often have dedicated programming and differing licensing agreements for every game, which results in additional costs that may not be worth it for some people.

Aside from sports, the majority of people (58%) say streaming costs are too high, and as many as 55% choose ad-supported plans to offset the expense.

Still, many are overspending: 32% pay for at least one rarely used or unused service, which is a clear waste of money.

And with such an overabundance of ever-shifting events, movies, and TV shows to turn to, it’s no surprise that 31% feel streaming fatigue. That fatigue creates additional stress surrounding the additional costs and confusion of switching between so many different services month to month.

Though streaming began as a cheap alternative to cable or buying and renting movies or seasons of TV shows, it’s become its own financial behemoth to wrangle. With the 18% increase year-over-year, we wouldn’t be surprised if some users’ streaming bills have come to rival the costs of traditional TV services.

Scrolling through endless libraries for something to watch can eat up as much time as watching the shows themselves, which will lead to greater remorse that your services aren't delivering what you want but still costing a pretty penny.

When it comes to managing your streaming services, it's helpful to know what you're paying for and why. Avoid burnout by locking in which services you want to keep for the short- or long-term. And if you sign up for a new service for a specific show or event, make sure to give yourself a limit and a reminder to cancel.