US Households Now Pay $150+ Monthly for TV

The average US household now spends $70 a month on subscription video services — up from $48 a year ago — and adding a live-TV streamer such as YouTube TV or cable pushes the total bill to $150 or more, according to a new Deloitte report.

A wave of 2025 price increases across virtually every major service is driving the surge:

• YouTube TV: +$10 to $82.99 (another hike expected soon after costly Disney and NBC deals)
• Fubo: +$5 to $84.99 (currently in NBC carriage dispute)
• DirecTV: up to +$11
• Hulu + Live TV: +$7

Netflix (Jan), Peacock (Jul), Apple TV+ (Aug), Disney+/Hulu/HBO Max (Oct), Paramount+ (Jan 2026)Carriage-fee disputes are accelerating the increases. 

In October, 10 million YouTube TV subscribers temporarily lost Disney channels (ABC, ESPN) for two weeks; the settlement reportedly forces YouTube TV to absorb higher costs and add premium ESPN channels to its base tier. Fubo’s 1.6 million users just lost NBC programming, and any resolution will likely mean another price bump.

Industry experts warn of growing viewer frustration. “It feels like we’ve hit an inflection point where people are asking, ‘Is this really the entertainment utopia we were promised?’” said Andrew Hare, senior vice president at media research firm Magid.

Yet streaming companies are posting record profits:

• Warner Bros. Discovery (Max): $977 million in first three quarters
• Disney (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+): $352 million profit in latest quarter
• Paramount: $340 million pretax earnings in Q3

The money is coming from three main sources beyond pure price hikes:

1. Rapidly growing ad-supported tiers (younger viewers tolerate ads; 
2. older viewers pay extra for ad-free)
3. Expensive exclusive sports rights that force fans to subscribe to multiple services

Near-saturation (90%+ of US homes already subscribe to at least one service), leaving little room for subscriber growth and intensifying competition for existing eyeballs

Sports fragmentation is the biggest wallet-drainer for consumers:

• Amazon Prime: exclusive Thursday (and Black Friday) NFL games + new NBA deal
• Netflix: Christmas Day NFL games
• Peacock: post-Christmas NFL + other exclusives
• Apple TV+: Friday MLB
• ESPN+: 50 exclusive NHL games

To watch a favorite team all season, fans increasingly need two, three, or more subscriptions.

Despite the profits, executives acknowledge limits. “The companies know just how price-sensitive people are right now,” Hare said. “I don’t think the long-term strategy is just keep raising prices.” 

Deloitte’s Rohith Nandagiri adds that the dual ad-supported/ad-free model lets streamers extract maximum revenue from every demographic — younger viewers accept ads, boomers pay to avoid them — creating a “win-win” for platforms even as household budgets stretch to the breaking point.