'The Daily Show' Takes Aim At Streaming Price Increases

By Andrew Sanford | TV | November 8, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | November 8, 2023 |

Water gets things wet. Fire is hot. Streaming service prices keep going up even if the quality produced by said streamers isn’t worth it. In this world of “everything needs to make us more money than it did last year,” streamers are charging more and more and offering not much more in return. Also, services like Max are forcing you to pay more, or the stuff you watch won’t look as good. That logic makes sense, however, when you remember that Max’s CEO dresses like this.

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

As streamers try their best to milk their “content” for all its worth, their employees are taking shots (as they should). I remember when you couldn’t even have CBS/Paramount+/All Access without a cable subscription. Now, it’s in its 87th form, leaving the actual networks it represents barren wastelands of reruns. Still, we have The Daily Show. Despite not having a permanent host (and having a hard time finding one), the show is still firing on all cylinders. That includes a newer sketch that features correspondents Michael Kosta and Desi Lydic promoting the service Price+.

It is a one-joke bit (that these two talented folks do a hell of a lot with), but that joke works really well. Don’t like unsuspected price increases on your streamers? Well, this service only raises its prices, so you’re never surprised! Again, it may not work as well were it not for the talents of Lydic and Kosta. It’s also a relatively quick sketch.

The house of cards that is streaming will fall eventually. People will stop wanting to pay exorbitant amounts of money for little in return (hopefully). Until then, we will likely see a lot of price increases. You’ll be paying $30 a month for DisneyBrothersMax and you will hate it. Welcome to 2032.