By Mallory Mattingly
Prime Video has become a big player in the streaming market right now, largely thanks to its three most expensive shows.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER takes the No. 1 spot for Prime Video’s — and all of television’s — most expensive show. Now gearing up for a third season, the Tolkien-inspired show’s debut season had a budget of $715 million.
THE PERIPHERAL came in as the second most expensive show for Prime Video with $175 million, followed by CITADEL at $300 million, according to Collider.
Aside from its massive budget, Prime Video is selective about the shows and movies it releases.
Related: Why Streaming Prices Rose by 23% Last Year
Netflix releases many projects throughout the year, and Disney+ often releases franchise extensions. Prime Video, on the other hand, “releases far fewer shows but ensures those shows feature the biggest stars, the biggest talent behind the camera, and the biggest rollout,” per Collider.
While Netflix remains the most popular streamer on the market, with 36% of households purchasing a subscription, Prime Video is in second with 14%, per Forbes.
As subscription costs continue to rise, people are getting pickier about which streamers they subscribe to.
“The average household is now paying close to what they did for cable but with the additional cognitive tax of juggling login info, recommender algorithms, and dynamic content libraries,” Bob Hutchins, CEO of Human Voice Media, told Forbes. “People are beginning to notice. Next year’s trend will be brutal triage.”
Netflix’s standard, ad-free subscription is up to $17.99 from $15.49 per month. Disney+ increased from $13.99 per month for ad-free streaming to $18.99, while Apple TV also hiked prices from $6.99 to $12.99 for its ad-free plan.
Prime Video, meanwhile, is already included in an Amazon Prime membership, which is $14.99. Though its base package does include ads, going ad-free is only an additional $2.99.
The rising costs by most streamers likely aren’t sustainable.
“The emerging strategy for companies is hybrid monetization: combining subscription and ad-supported tiers to capture value across different consumer segments,” explained Frank Albarella, U.S. media and telecommunications sector leader for KPMG. “Services with exclusive sports, beloved franchises, or culturally relevant moments can command higher price points, while ad-supported options serve price-sensitive viewers.”
Meanwhile, experts also wonder if the crackdown on password sharing could backfire.
“Streaming services are policing password sharing like piracy when in fact it’s a signal of loyalty,” Hutchins told Forbes. “Sharing an account with a sibling, your mom or a close friend means that the content is good enough to share with someone else. Punishing people for this means you’re not turning ‘moochers’ into paying customers, you’re severing the social connection that made people care about your service in the first place.”
Prime, however, has yet to majorly push back against the practice.
From big-budget projects to selective content releases and a reasonable subscription cost, it’s not surprising to see Prime Video rise through the streaming ranks.
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