Before you start
Each row is one price event for one plan: a launch, an increase, a decrease, or a restructure (a plan renamed with no price change). Prices are US monthly prices in USD, except the Prime Video "Annual membership" rows, which are annual prices. Read the README before you start — it explains the two data gaps in the ESPN rows.
Exercises
1. Reading the data (basic)
Which platform has the most price increases in the dataset? How many?
2. Filtering (basic)
Only one row in the whole dataset is a price decrease. Which platform, which plan, and by how much did the price fall?
3. Cumulative change (intermediate)
Netflix's standard plan launched at $7.99 in 2011 and cost $19.99 in March 2026. Calculate the total percentage increase. Then do the same for Apple TV+ (from $4.99 at launch in 2019 to $14.99 in August 2026). Which one increased more in percentage terms, even though it has been around for less time?
4. A real household budget (intermediate)
A household subscribed to Netflix Standard, Disney+ (ad-free) and Hulu (ad-free) at the end of 2019. Using the dataset, calculate:
a) What the three cost per month and per year at the end of 2019.
b) What the same three plans cost per month and per year in September 2026.
c) The percentage increase.
5. Counting over time (intermediate)
Count the number of price increases per year. In which years did increases become much more frequent? Note that 2026 only covers January to September.
6. Ads vs. no ads (advanced)
Disney+ launched its ad-supported plan in December 2022 at $7.99. Compare how much the ad-supported plan and the ad-free plan have each increased in percentage terms since December 2022. What does that suggest about how platforms use the ad-free plan?
7. What the data can't tell you (advanced)
List at least three conclusions that would be misleading or impossible to draw from this dataset. Think about: annual vs. monthly prices, plans that were renamed or restructured, the data gaps, and what a "price" in this dataset does and doesn't include.
Connect it to real life
Can a streaming service raise your price in the middle of your subscription? What are you entitled to when it does?
Teacher answer key
Click to reveal the answer key
- Netflix, with 19 increases across its plans. Next are Hulu and Peacock with 8 each.
- Hulu, ad-supported plan, 2019: from $7.99 to $5.99, a 25.0% decrease.
- Netflix: (19.99 − 7.99) / 7.99 = +150.2%. Apple TV+: (14.99 − 4.99) / 4.99 = +200.4%. Apple TV+ increased more, in seven years versus fifteen.
- a) $12.99 + $6.99 + $11.99 = $31.97/month, $383.64/year.
b) $19.99 + $18.99 + $18.99 = $57.97/month, $695.64/year.
c) +81.3%. - 2014: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2024: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2026 (Jan–Sep): 12. Increases jump from about 4 a year to 10 or more a year from 2022 onwards.
- Ad-supported: $7.99 → $11.99 = +50.1%. Ad-free: $10.99 → $18.99 = +72.8%. The ad-free plan has risen faster, which is consistent with platforms using price to push subscribers toward the cheaper ad-supported plan. (A good discussion point: the data shows the pattern, but not the platforms' intent.)
- Examples of strong answers:
- Comparing Prime Video's annual membership percentages directly with monthly plans, without noting they are annual prices that also include shipping and other benefits.
- Treating a "restructure" row as "no price change" for subscribers, when renamed plans can change what you get.
- Claiming the exact date of the ESPN price steps flagged as data gaps.
- Concluding anything about prices outside the US — the dataset is US-only.
- Concluding what households actually pay — the dataset tracks list prices, not discounts, bundles or promotions.