By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
In June 2025, Disney paid around $439 million to acquire streaming powerhouse Hulu. A few months later in October, Disney took control of Fubo.
Disney, which is no stranger to buying out competitors and merging companies, has accomplished that same goal in the streaming realm. The entertainment giant has combined and bundled the services under its view into a more encompassing subscription for the people.
You can watch virtually any show you want, whether on Disney+ or Hulu, and most sports with ESPN+.
Doesn’t this sound familiar?
People became so enamored with streaming services a couple of years ago because of their more affordable costs and personalized content for the viewer. They did not want the vast array of channels that would never be touched when browsing the TV guide.
Alongside the joining of multiple streaming services is the increase in subscription costs.
Disney+ has increased in price over each of the last four years. It launched in 2019 at $6.99 per month. As of October 2025, it now stands at $18.99 per month for the premium plan. The bundle that contains ad-free Disney+, ad-free Hulu and ESPN Unlimited costs $44.99 a month.
Another major merger that is happening is the combination of Paramount+ with HBO Max. Paramount+ brings in over 40,000 episodes and movies, while HBO Max contains over 3,600 titles. The pair of services provides original HBO shows and movies alongside shows from major channels like CBS, Nickelodeon, BET and Comedy Central.
Both already contained a wide range of content. With the duo joining forces, there is not a whole lot that distinguishes their content from what cable plans provide.
Even with the merging of multiple services, the prices remain lower than standard cable, which offers prices ranging from around $50 to over $100 for premium per month. The point is not that streaming has become a lesser financial option for most people. Rather, streaming is inching closer to becoming what it was created to compete against.
Prices go up year after year for each service, and the cost of bundling multiple services together increases the overall price of the product someone buys. If the current bundles eventually become the standard, people will have less personalized content and will face plenty of shows and channels that they have no interest in watching.
As services continue to grow their available content and increase in prices, there leaves a decision the consumer must make: Does more accessibility or lower prices matter more?
If being able to watch thousands of episodes and movies at the push of a button is the priority, then streaming will continue down its current path. If lower prices and smaller selections matter more, then streaming must be reformed.
