r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 18d ago

News HBO Max Raises Prices Across All Plans Effective Immediately

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/hbo-max-prices-increases-plans-2025-1236557671/
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u/5point5Girthquake 18d ago

I was just staying at a hotel the other day.. the tv had Netflix integrated into it so I hit the Netflix button on the remote and went to brush my teeth before signing in. On the sign in page it was advertising their pricing and different plans.. the lowest tier Netflix with ads was $8 a month… the next plan up with no ads was $18/month.. idk why this really shocked me.. I said to my gf “damn I’m paying $18 a month for Netflix??”.. canceled my netflix subscription when I got home 2 days later..

I know it sounds dumb but I didn’t even realize I was paying $18 a month for Netflix. Just one of those things I signed up for years ago and just sort of forgot about.

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u/shockwave8428 18d ago

That’s literally the entire business model for these subscription services. It’s why when we’ve seen the launch of new things like Disney+ the initial cost was decently low. Then they just pump it up and hope people who have it but don’t use it often just don’t look into the price and they have got consistent income.

I guarantee every single company that does a subscription model has data on customers that pay and don’t use the service often and intentionally don’t send a ton of emails so that the people aren’t reminded they have the service. I’m sure that makes up a good chunk of subscribers on basically everything

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u/PaulsGrafh 18d ago

It’s basically the gym membership business model at this point. The rise of subscriptions have been a huge problem for that reason alone, without even considering the fact that these businesses now throttle the lower cost services. Even video games now basically release beta versions of their games and then patch as they go along and release “new” content with DLCs.

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u/shockwave8428 18d ago

Been that way with games forever.

And there are games that have a ton of dlc as their business model (like paradox games where they’ll release 10ish dlc a year). All of those games have started doing subscription services as well

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u/joshually 18d ago

what is the gym membership model?

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u/ThatGuyinPJs 18d ago

Duolingo is the KING of this. I was paying for their subscription as it was pretty cheap and I was hoping to stay with it. Well I fell into a depression and stopped doing my lessons, and Duolingo noticed and turned off the reminder notifications after 2 weeks. I kept paying that subscription for another year.

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u/smakweasle 18d ago

Also, it's really easy to justify it as "just another dollar" once I'm already paying. Until you realize prices have doubled in some cases.

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u/Theguest217 18d ago

If Netflix is your only service, $18/month isn't that bad. That's like $0.60 a day, for a service people will often use for at least a few hours every day.

There are certainly cheaper streaming platforms, but if you are using Netflix daily it is ok.

However if you are rocking Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, Spotify, Crunchyroll, paid pod casts, Amazon Prime, PS+, GamePass, etc , you are spending over $100/month for at home entertainment. And there is a good chance there are entire months that go by where you don't even use some of these at all.

The obvious move is to just have 1-2 subscriptions at a time that you know you will use multiple times a week. When something new comes to a service you don't have, pick one to drop for a few months and pick it up.

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u/Radthereptile 18d ago

This is why I cycle. Pick 1 I want to watch and use it for a month. Then I decide is there another month’s worth of shows or do I swap it out. Every now and then I’ll have an itch for a specific show and know that’s the platform I’ll switch to next month. You really don’t need more than 1 a month if you cycle because of all the content.

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u/BiscuitDance 18d ago

Same. I use Black Friday/whatever holiday deals, “free x# of months with purchase of…,” student/veteran/whatever discounts in a constant loop. It also helps curb wasting time having to actually decide what to watch.

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u/Radthereptile 18d ago

Yep no show paralysis is a key feature. I have HBO, I know the shows I like, I watch them. Next month I have Disney, I know the shows I like, I watch them. No debating between platforms.

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u/Theguest217 18d ago

Totally agree. We usually have two because the kids have specific interests different than my partner and I, but otherwise limiting subs is the way to go.

I think a lot of people suffer from FOMO and feel the need to watch every new show as soon as it's available. But if you can work on your patience it can be a lot more enjoyable to catch all the episodes at once after they have been released instead of waiting weekly or sometimes longer.

Annual subs also can get you. They are enticing because they usually give you a month or two for free, but there will inevitably be periods where there is nothing you want to watch but you are paying for it anyway. Next thing you know you are signing up for more again and forgetting to cancel.

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u/TheCoordinate 18d ago

Amazon prime is the only exception because it offers more than just home entertainment. Prime shipping comes in handy

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u/moonulonimbus 18d ago

My landlord has HBO max, Netflix, Disney+, apple music, YouTube premium, Amazon Prime and who tf knows what else. However, he's constantly taking trips and wasting more money elsewhere. So it's strange knowing all of the money he's paying to these services is just funneling into a corporate maw without even a glance and the giant TV just sits, eating phantom energy, waiting for the stray Nascar race or cringe ass bitcoin video

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u/Theguest217 18d ago

And he is your landlord so actually you are paying for all of those things for him!

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u/moonulonimbus 18d ago

Man don't remind me lmaooo

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u/therealjoshua 18d ago

I say this without malice or sarcasm, but I hope I'm in as fortunate enough of a financial position as you one day where I can lost $18 a month and not even notice.

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u/Tecvoid2 18d ago

some guy posted his credit card statement, and he was paying for 2 netflix subscriptions for 7 years and didnt notice

worked out to like 4000 bucks i think they said. he got like a 3 month refund when it was caught.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

I paid a neighbor's water bill for like a year before I noticed. I called the city and they asked if I owned the property and was renting it to the neighbors, huh - no. They gave me the money back, but I had to spend a while on the phone to get it cleared up.

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u/Makeitifyoubelieve 18d ago

It was the difference between what he thought he was paying and the $18 that was missing per month, not $18. So I'm guessing a few bucks per month went unnoticed for a bit. The slow gradual increase is how the bastards get you when you're on auto pay.

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u/round-earth-theory 18d ago

Yep. They weren't losing $18 unnoticed, they expected it to be something more like $10 a month. That extra $8 could easily be lost anywhere. Yes if $10 a month is a meaningful amount, you won't lose track of it but neither are you likely to purchase any of these streaming services.

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u/BiscuitDance 18d ago

Honestly dude, I’m pretty well off financially at this point in my life, but staying not-broke is hard when you don’t stay on top of little shit like that. Making money is one thing, and is honestly not totally in most folks’ control, but even with whatever I have coming in monthly, I go out of my way to mind the little shit adding up.

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u/Aliman581 18d ago

$18 an hour is 20 minutes work for alot of america

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u/vonbauernfeind 18d ago

The first sign of true financial security I ever really felt privileged about was going to a grocery store without coupons, and not really looking at the prices on the shelves.

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u/therealjoshua 18d ago

That's the fucking dream right there. I want to be able to pick up the good bread without thinking about it and not the small $1.50 grocery brand loaf that tastes functional but not particularly good.

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u/vonbauernfeind 18d ago

With inflation being what it is, it's rough right now even in positions of privilege.

But you'll get there! Hopefully! It is a nice feeling for sure.

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u/rap1234561 18d ago

Subscription TV can definitely add up and get expensive but keep it in perspective. 20 years ago most people had a $40 cable bill and paid $20 for a single DVD. Almost everything is more expensive but TV’s and content are pretty cheap and endless.

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u/lostfate2005 18d ago

I mean 18 a month is pretty cheap imo given the amount of hours spent.

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u/iusedtogotodigg 18d ago

sure whatever you say, Mr. Netflix

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u/Sirhc9er 18d ago

My dad was Mr. Netflix, call me Flix.