The days when streaming was an affordable alternative to cable TV are long gone. Services have been fragmented, requiring countless subscriptions to watch everything you want, and prices have gone up. Peacock will be added to that list, and both new and existing subscribers will be affected.

Peacock confirmed (via The Verge) that all of its streaming plans will cost an additional $2 per month. The price of the ad-supported Premium plan will increase from $6 to $8, and the Premium Plus plan will increase from $12 to $14.

The price increases will first affect new subscribers, with the changes taking effect on July 18. Existing subscribers, on the other hand, will only get a one-month reprieve and will have to pay the price increase starting August 17.

Peacock just started in 2020, and some may remember that the first price increase occurred last year: the Premium plan went up $1 and Premium Plus went up $2. Peacock also ended its free plan at that time, and it is not currently available to new subscribers. Peacock is no longer available to new subscribers at that time.

So why the new price increase? It may have something to do with the fact that the 2024 Olympics begin on July 26, eight days after the price increase for new subscribers, but it is unclear; NBC will be streaming the games on Peacock, and may be inundated with new subscribers who want to watch.

NBCUniversal CEO Mike Cavanagh said on the latest earnings call that Peacock has a catalog of sports, original programming, and next-day delivery of NBC content. In other words, they clearly see more value in the catalog than the current pricing structure suggests.

Then again, streaming is an expensive business, and the days when companies could afford to sacrifice profits in favor of growth are long gone. That seems to be the driving force behind the price increases and password-sharing crackdowns at other streaming distributors.

Existing Peacock subscribers will not be affected by the price increase until after the Olympics, meaning that NBC can make a few extra dollars from people who sign up for Peacock at the last minute for all sports.

Note that if you subscribe to Peacock between July 12 and July 17, you can subscribe to Peacock for one month only at a lower rate and still stream all games.