Disney+ Could Get a Free Ad-Supported Tier

[MacRumors]

Disney could introduce an ad-supported Disney+ free tier in the future, according to comments Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro made during the company's latest earnings call (via The Wrap).

D'Amaro said Disney is considering a free tier that could allow it to reach people unwilling to pay for a subscription, but no launch plans were shared.

First, we see it as a way to expand our reach to a customer segment that's more price-sensitive. Expanding our reach is, as we've talked about before, one of our strategic priorities. Second, unlike a lot of our AVOD competitors, we're fairly well sold, meaning more inventory would actually help us accelerate our ad revenue growth. And then finally, as you mentioned in your question, a free offering could help us drive top-of-funnel Disney+ subscriber growth. So nothing specific to announce today, but definitely something that we're considering.

Disney+ competitors like Apple TV and Netflix don't have a completely free tier, but services like Tubi and The Roku Channel offer free content, as does YouTube. Disney+ has approximately 130 million global subscribers and is one of the most-watched streaming services in the United States.

Disney also signed a deal with TikTok, which will see TikTok creators use characters and scenes from Disney movies and shows for short-form videos. The videos will be available on TikTok and on the Disney+ Verts section for vertical video.

Article Link: Disney+ Could Get a Free Ad-Supported Tier

 

[MacUserFella]

I imagine I’ll have to watch like 38 ads in between segments

 

[ctkd]

Can't wait to watch 100 ads for every 5 minute interval

 

[Sp1281]

Ads ruin everything
This will make life complete

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

Ads ruin everything
This will make life complete

Not bad if it’s a free because there was no free option to begin with.
Imagine if YouTube was never free in the first place.
Whats bad is Ads on a PAID service 😉
maybe they figured they would make more money having people watch ads instead of not having them at all? Not only that people would become more fans of new shows they produce and leads them to support Disney more?

 

[zachz]

I wouldn’t mind if they then made their base tier without ads at the same price, then keep ads for the free tier. I don’t want to pay $20 just to not have ads

 

[Keymaster]

Uh, Disney+ already has ads even on the lowest tier. They aren't there for everything, but there are a couple minutes of ads before episodes and sometimes interruptions (several times in a movie for example). I guess the difference will be they will have ads on every single thing, maybe at the rate of broadcast TV.

I understand they have to make money to run the service, so the free tier is going to have to have something in there to pay for usage, and ads cover it. The question then is why ads in the tiers that already pay, and why don't they set it up so you get ads based on usage...we don't watch Disney+ much (it's for my daughter basically) so it's likely the 1-2 minutes of ads at the front cover all of our usage compared to a heavy user.

There's a better way to do this than raising prices and making the service more painful for watchers, but it doesn't seem like any of the streaming companies are interested in making that better service for us.

 

[Royksöpp]

Yeah, and make everyone else pay for it.

 

[triumvirate]

Disney+ sucks terribly without ads ... with 40 ads between each 5 minute segment it will suck exponentially more.

 

[jdavid_rp]

Disney Channel 2.0 incoming

 

[whitby]

So long as they preserve the ad free tier. If they make it difficult to watch without ads, then I am gone. I am sick and tired of the push to advertise drivel when I pay to stream content. ‘I pay’ , no advertising. Simple. ‘I don’t pay’, advertising allowed.

 

[Complex757]

I don't believe that at all.

 

[artifex]

Will be interesting to see what they plan to make available, to compete with the other FAST streamers. I suspect they'll be at a disadvantage for variety against companies that have extensive history licensing from anyone. Also will be interesting to see the ad load vs. Tubi in particular, which in my experience actually seems to have a lower ad rate than the lowest paid Amazon Prime tier.

 

[SnowPenguin]

Or completely free with an adblocker

 

[realLucaR]

I genuinely wonder what kinds of people still pay for this daylight robbery when piracy exists.

 

[Blackstick]

Long as there’s a tier with no ads.

If I pay, I want no ads. Simple as that. Like HBO. It’s very simple.

 

[Genelec8341]

I don't mind ads on free tiers so much, thats what the MUTE button is for and it's worth the price of zero.
Paying for a tier and getting any ads, no way.

Is there anything on Disney worth watching besides The Mando anyway?

 

[svish]

Will be interesting to see how many ads will be there in a TV show/movie. Good to have a free tier in case one just wants to watch only some particular content and is generally not interested in subscribing to the service.

 

[Lioness~]

I have with some ads and pay like $7 - totally ok, but I wouldn't want any more ads.

But it's good that they have different options.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Ironically Disney's film library already advertises Disney merchandise and theme park tickets.🫤

 

[TruthAboveAllElse]

Disney Channel 2.0 incoming

Disney Channel only ran ads for other Disney stuff.

 

[opeter]

Imagine if YouTube was never free in the first place.

Then it wouldn't be so popular in the first place...

Whats bad is Ads on a PAID service 😉

Yeah, like SkyShowTime in Europe. And not to speak of cable programs.

maybe they figured they would make more money having people watch ads instead of not having them at all? Not only that people would become more fans of new shows they produce and leads them to support Disney more?

I don't think if someone wont/want pay for a service, he/her would suddenly start to do so.

 

[Black Belt]

The place I find ads least objectionable are before showing the content. Being interrupted like YouTube does just pisses me off. But at least those ads help real people I like to support, not a bloated greedy corporation trying to take me for every buck I make like Disney. Either way I’m not paying yet another subscription so free is their only hope I’d sign up.

When I cut the cable my goal was to cut costs, not replace them with a bunch of outrageously priced subscriptions of channels that should be 50 cents to 99 cents a month but want to charge me $20 and up all because they were too stupid to add their content to Netflix and instead had to design and maintain a costly streaming delivery system themselves.

 

[mihighil]

I genuinely wonder what kinds of people still pay for this daylight robbery when piracy exists.

If they are willing to watch disney films and series, that already tells you what kind of people they are.

 

[Kottu]

The whole point of subscribing to streaming services is to avoid ads. My Amazon account has started showing ads too, although only at the beginning of shows. Because I don’t have much time to watch TV anymore, I’ve cancelled my Disney+, satellite TV which included Apple TV, Viasat, and SkyShowtime subscriptions.