The golden age of cheap streaming TV isn't dead even though Netflix, Disney, and others are hiking prices

• "Streamflation" has haunted entertainment as Disney+, Netflix, and other services have raised prices.
• But streaming TV is still a good deal.
• If you lean into streaming's flexibility and don't mind seeing ads, you can get a cheap bundle.

"Streamflation" is a term that has haunted the entertainment world in recent weeks.

Everyone is raising prices! The Financial Times declared that the streaming TV "basket" is now more expensive than cable, pegging the price of a top US bundle at $87 per month this fall compared to an $83 average for a cable package.

I'm not quibbling with the idea that streamers like Netflix and Disney+ are raising prices and will likely continue to do so. I wrote in May about why a wave of price hikes for ad-free streaming services was on the horizon. But let's be real: Most people aren't going to be paying $87 per month for streaming services.

My favorite element of the streaming era is its flexibility. You can easily cancel services you aren't using. You can switch to an ad-supported version if you want to save money. You can just borrow your friend's login if you don't want to pay at all (okay, that last option is fast disappearing).

What's really coming to an end right now is not the end of cheap streaming but the end of cheap ad-free streaming.

As someone who covers media, I'd always assumed this day would come. Making TV shows is expensive, and having two revenue streams (ads and subscriptions) can help make the business model work. That's why cable TV mostly has ads (with some add-on exceptions like HBO and other premium cable channels).

And the thing is, many people are fine with watching some ads if they can save money.

So this day was inevitable. But don't despair. Looking at recent Nielsen data, it struck me that if you can tolerate some ads, you can watch basically everything that's popular for less than $50 per month. And there are ways to construct a cheap core bundle even if you hate ads.

This data shows the share of streaming viewership for the top services.

Now, looking at this, the clear winners to me are Netflix and the Hulu/Disney+ bundle. You could get both, ad-free, for $15.49 and $19.99 (starting September 6), respectively, for a total of $35.48. That's a nice core ad-free bundle.

Throw in Prime Video ($8.99) and Max ($15.99) ad-free and you're still only up to $60.46.

But as I said, in this current environment, you're not really going to get any deals sticking to ad-free. If you open your mind up a little to ads, you can greatly expand your bundle and lower your price.

Let's run down those top services from the viewership chart and the prices of their ad-supported plans:

• YouTube: Free
• Netflix: $6.99
• Hulu and Disney+ bundle: $9.99
• Prime Video: $8.99
• Max: $9.99
• Tubi: Free
• Peacock: $5.99
• Roku Channel: Free
• Paramount+: $6.99
• Pluto TV: Free

So, if you got an ad-supported bundle of everything that makes it into the top chart on Nielsen, your grand total would be $48.94. It's not nothing, but it's a far cry from $83 for a cable package — which also includes ads!

Even with this bundle, there might still be a show or two on other services you want to watch. But the beauty of streaming is that if you want, you can subscribe to Apple TV+ for a month to watch "Ted Lasso" and then cancel. And really, you probably don't need to subscribe to all the services in your chosen bundle all the time. Swap Apple TV+ for Paramount+ for a month. Voila, problem solved.

I get that no one likes it when prices get raised. But I for one still prefer the streaming world to the cable TV one. Beyond price and flexibility, services like Netflix and Prime Video are stocked with tons of stellar international TV that I didn't have access to a few years ago.

"Streamflation" is a drag, but I'm not pining for the cable bundle — and I doubt other cord-cutters are either.