Consumers will be feeling the impact of streaming services' price increases in 2024, as nearly every major streamer has bumped up their subscription fees.

Why it matters: The price hikes are part of media companies' push to recoup their investments on the expensive and largely unprofitable pivot to streaming.

• The increases will likely push consumers to cheaper ad-supported plans, which brings in more revenue per person, appeasing investors.

Driving the news: Amazon Prime Video will charge an extra $2.99 per month for an ad-free version, the company announced Wednesday, as it releases commercials across its video platform for the first time.

• The increase will apply to subscribers to the standalone version of Prime Video ($8.99 per month) and to the cost of an Amazon Prime membership ($14.99 per month or $139 per year).

State of play: Amazon is only the latest subscription price hike announced in 2023 as streamers address Wall Street's increasing discontent with streamers' mounting losses.

• Max announced in January a $1 hike to its ad-free plan to $15.99. The ad-supported tier of Warner Bros. Discovery's service stayed at $9.99 per month.
• Netflix stopped offering its cheapest ad-free plan at $9.99 per month in July, pushing new and returning subscribers to its ad-supported plan at $6.99 per month.
• Peacock bumped its monthly cost up $1 to $5.99 and its ad-free version up $2 to $11.99 starting in August — the first price increase for NBCUniversal's streamer since its 2020 debut.
• Disney increased prices across its services in October. The ad-free tier for Disney+ jumped by $3 to $13.99 per month. Hulu without ads jumped $3 to $17.99 per month. The price of an ESPN+ monthly plan rose by $1 to $10.99.

What we're watching: Media companies also have been cracking down on password sharing. Netflix started informing customers of the new policy in May, and Disney began enforcing a similar policy in Canada in November.

Go deeper:

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