Amazon’s Prime Video is still the cheapest of the big streaming services in New Zealand - but from March 4 it will no longer be so light on your wallet as its monthly price increases by 38 per cent from $7.99 to $10.99.

Why a price hike so far ahead of inflation? A rep for the firm said it was the first price rise since the service launched in NZ in 2016.

Prime content includes Amazon Originals including Reacher, Clarkson’s Farm and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - the first series of which was filmed in NZ (supported by a 20 per cent government rebate) before Amazon Studios decamped for Europe.

Netflix, Disney+ and Prime have all recently introduced cheaper, ad-subsidised plans offshore (US$2.99 per month in Prime’s case), but none have announced any plans for commercials in NZ. The Prime rep said there were no plans for an ad-supported version of Prime in New Zealand during 2024.

Earlier this month, Sky TV increased the price of a standard plan to its Neon streaming service by 11 per cent from $17.99 to $19.99 per month.

The price of a Sky Sport Now Month Pass will go up by the same percentage as it rises from $44.99 to $49.99 per month, also from February 1, with the increase pinned on rising content and production costs.

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The cost of a basic Neon plan was held at $12.99 but with the introduction of ads,

Disney+, which launched in NZ in 2019 for $9.99, increased its pricing to $14.99 per month in December last year.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.