Streamers Squeezing More Out Of Subscribers

Apple TV raised its prices immediately on Friday, lifting a monthly subscription to $14.99 from $12.99 and an annual plan to $119.99 from $99.99 — the streaming service’s fourth increase in four years.

Apple One individual bundles that include Apple Music, Apple Arcade, iCloud storage and other services also rose $2, to $21.95 a month. 

Unlike several rivals, Apple TV does not offer a cheaper ad-supported tier.

The move follows a wave of industry price hikes as streamers try to offset rising programming costs. Netflix recently increased its most expensive plan to $27 a month. Peacock raised its ad-supported tier to $12.99 and its premium plan to $19.99 earlier this month. ESPN will lift its unlimited plan to $31.99 a month in September. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube Premium also raised prices earlier this year.

Apple launched Apple TV+ in 2019 at $4.99 a month as a low-cost perk for device owners and still offers a free three-month trial with a new Apple product purchase. The company has since positioned the service around high-end originals, now numbering more than 300 movies and series, including “Ted Lasso,” which returned for a fourth season this month, and “Severance.”

Apple TV also carries Formula 1 races in the United States plus Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer games. Several of its shows have drawn awards attention: “The Studio” won 13 Emmys last year, and “Widow’s Bay” and “Pluribus” are nominated for 19 and 18 awards this year.