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 no pay, advertising allowed.

 

[Complex757]

I don't believe that at all.