Paid streaming for cheapskates is having a moment

March 19, 2026 Janko Roettgers

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Roku’s Howdy offers ad-free streaming for $2.99 a month.

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week.

Streaming is getting expensive: This week, Amazon Prime Video became the latest streaming service to increase prices. In addition to the annual $139 fee for Prime, consumers now have to pay $4.99 for ad-free viewing. The increase comes after Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and Discovery Plus all raised their prices in 2025.

Those price increases don't go unnoticed. About half of US consumers think they're paying too much for streaming, and two out of three people who canceled a …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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