Poll: $21 Is The Sweet Spot For Total Monthly Streaming Services

Most U.S. adults are willing to pay a total of somewhere between $17 and $27 per month for streaming media services, with the sweet spot at $21, according to a new poll from The Hollywood Reporter and Morning Consult.

While many Americans pay for three services at a combined cost of $37 per month, the $21 level would attract the maximum number of potential subscribers, THR notes in a summary of the survey. 

The results, which by and large did not vary significantly across the numerous demographics analyzed, spotlight how important and challenging it will be for new services to break into the top tier that eat up the limited amount consumers are willing to spend per month. 

The No. 1 SVOD, Netflix — which has 151 million subscribers, although it saw its first decline in subscribers in its latest quarter, reported in mid July — charges $8.99 for its basic subscription and $12.99 for its standard plan. 

In comparison, WarnerMedia’s upcoming HBO Max will reportedly charge up to $17 per month, while also-upcoming Disney+ will charge just $7 per month. 

Still-limited awareness is another, not unexpected, challenge for services now in the wings.

The survey found that 26% of adults have yet to hear anything about Disney+ (down from 30% seven months ago). Even larger numbers have yet to hear anything about HBO Max (40%) or the upcoming services from Apple (35%) and NBCUniversal (46%).

"With 52% of Netflix paid subscribers now subscribing to multiple SVOD services, brand loyalty cannot be taken for granted by the leading incumbent," Tim Mulligan of MIDiA Research told THR.

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