This week, Amazon in India is frantically sending out cheerful emails to customers, informing them of upcoming changes to existing Prime subscriptions. That, in Amazon’s parlance, usually only means one thing—you’ll be invited to pay more for another subscription tier. And yes, that was the case. Cue something called Amazon Music Unlimited. Symptomatic of the time we are in, this symbolises we’ve come a long way from the promises that streaming platforms made all those years ago. To be cost-effective, convenient, and everything else to urge you to give up your cable TV or direct-to-home (DTH) subscriptions. That value-for-money buffet is now permanently closed.
Many are called, but few are chosen. Look closely, and you’ll realise the situation is this—you can flex having a majority of the streaming subscriptions, but very few are wholesome in the truest sense. If we’re to tackle this from a sports lens, you have JioHotstar for cricket and football, apart from the collections of HBO Max and Paramount+. There’s Sony Liv for the European football. Soon, you’ll likely be adding Zee5 because FIFA World Cup 2026 broadcast rights for India have been rescued by Zee. Fancode or F1 TV, for all of us Formula 1 fans. And Apple TV+, if Major League Soccer has your attention.
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Two things stand out. First, the aggressive customer-acquisition phase has seamlessly transitioned into an equally aggressive monetisation phase. Secondly, in-between stealthy price hikes, advertisements have been forcibly inserted into what were once top-tier paid plans, giving birth to even higher-tier plans. Your digital monthly bill has likely ballooned without you realising it.
In their latest analysis of India’s streaming landscape, Research and Markets estimates that the video streaming market, valued at $8.94 billion in 2024, is expected to reach $23.88 billion by 2030. What was all-inclusive earlier (as Amazon Prime particularly was) no longer is. The question is, how do you rebuild your entertainment and sports bundle?
The illustration above offered only a cursory sports perspective. And I haven’t yet factored in regional language-focused streaming platforms. For a majority of English speakers, I believe Netflix would probably deliver the best value in terms of movies and TV show content, followed by JioHotstar. If we are to total everything up, as we must, the top-tier packages for each cost something like this— ₹7,788 annually for Netflix, ₹2,198 for Amazon Prime with the obnoxious ad-free add-on, ₹2,199 for JioHotstar, ₹1,499 for Sony Liv and ₹1,499 per year for the Fancode unlimited Livestream pass. I am not factoring in the Zee5 costs, but the expectation is the present ₹1,199 per year subscription tier will see inflation to unlock access to the FIFA World Cup 2026 matches.
Totaling this cursory snapshot, you’re paying well in excess of ₹12,000 per year. That is no small amount of money.
I’ll get back for a moment to the Amazon reference earlier. The company now says that the Amazon Music tier you access with the existing Prime subscription will now have ads in between the playlist and song streaming, and without offline downloads. You must, and utility demands you do, pay ₹99 per month more for something called Amazon Music Unlimited to get offline downloads, and ad-free streaming in high quality. In a world where Apple Music has a ₹119 per month plan (or ₹179 per month for a Family of five members) with Lossless music, alongside YouTube Premium subscription ( ₹149 per month) that includes YouTube Music, and Spotify ( ₹139 per month), no one who is thinking straight should subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited.
Speaking of rebuilding the bundle, I’ll say get back to Live TV channels for sports if that is an option. A subscription to sports channels on a DTH connection is still a cost-effective option.
Separate platforms and subscriptions that provide lifestyle true utility, from those that only offer content. Amazon Prime, for example, remains a highly cost-effective option at ₹1,499 per year if you frequently utilise its faster free shipping and other shopping benefits. View the video component as a secondary perk, and you’ll have the answer. For instance, if Flipkart is your main shopping destination online, and PhonePe or Google Pay or CRED are your primary bill payment destinations, you don’t really need any of the Prime subscriptions.
Secondly, pick and choose. If the costs are proving much. If your primary viewing on Sony Liv or JioHotstar is sports, subscribe on a monthly basis instead of annually, and drop it when there are no Live matches. For instance, as I write this, Premier League fans don’t need JioHotstar in the bundle, and neither do you need Sony Liv because the Champions League is done too.
If the streaming platforms are going to be sneaky smart (downgrading bundled benefits midway, no one’s naive to not notice this behaviour), you must remain a step ahead.
Vishal Mathur is the Technology Editor at HT. Tech Tonic is a weekly column that looks at the impact of personal technology on the way we live, and vice versa. The views expressed are personal.
