La piraterie de vidéos en streaming en hausse avec l’augmentation des coûts d’abonnement
Streaming video piracy is surging once again, as consumers face skyrocketing subscription costs for platforms like Netflix and Disney+.
Increased subscription costs
Over the past nine months, there have been significant price hikes for streaming video subscriptions, with more expected in the future. Some packages have seen steep increases in prices, while others have introduced advertisements to their lower-priced tiers, forcing consumers to upgrade to higher-priced packages for an ad-free experience.
For example, in December of last year, Disney raised the price of its standard Disney+ tier from $7.99 to $11.99, while also introducing a new $7.99 tier called Disney+ Basic, which includes ads.
In terms of ad load, the ads on Disney+ Basic can range from 15 to 45 seconds in length, with up to four minutes of commercials per hour. However, Disney+ Basic does not support offline viewing, as the ads are loaded in real-time when the content is played.
In June, Netflix quietly phased out its basic plan without ads, which was previously offered at $9.99, making it necessary for customers who want an ad-free experience to pay at least an extra $10.50 instead of $4.
Amazon Prime Video is the latest company to adopt this strategy, giving subscribers the option to choose between ads or paying an additional $3 per month. Starting next year, Amazon Prime Video users will see ads on shows and movies unless they subscribe to the ad-free tier, which will cost an extra $2.99 per month in the US.
Streaming video piracy on the rise
Even before these recent price hikes, subscription costs were steadily increasing, which seems to be driving the upward trend in piracy.
According to a report published by the European Union, TV shows account for the highest piracy rates, reversing a previous decline in illegal downloading and streaming.
The data shows that the number of accesses to pirated content per internet user per month started at around 11.5 in 2017, dropped to about 5 at the beginning of 2021, and then increased to 7 by the end of 2022.
This recent surge in piracy is primarily driven by the growth of TV piracy, which accounted for 48% of total piracy (including TV shows, films, music, software, and publications) in 2022.
The report also indicates that there is a substitution effect between pirated and legal content, with an inverse relationship between consumption of legal content and piracy in all domains.
Factors such as low per capita income, high income inequality, and high youth unemployment are all associated with increased consumption of pirated content.
Source : 9to5mac.com
