Disney Raising Price of Disney+ Subscription to $10.99 and Launching $7.99 Ad-Supported Tier

[MacRumors]

Disney today announced that it is increasing the cost of its ad-free Disney+ subscription by 38 percent, raising the price from $7.99 per month to $10.99 per month. This is the most significant price increase Disney has introduced since the 2019 launch of the service.

The price of the ad-free plan is increasing to $10.99 per month because Disney is also launching a new ad-supported tier that will be available for $7.99 per month. The price change and the new ad-supported streaming tier will go into effect on Thursday, December 8.

Disney will also increase the price of Hulu without ads by $2, so it will be $14.99 per month instead of $12.99, with that change being implemented on October 10. Hulu with ads will see a price increase too, going from $6.99 to $7.99 per month.

For current customers, the Disney+ bundle that includes Hulu and ESPN+ with ads will be $1 more expensive, going from $13.99 to $14.99. Disney will offer Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ with ads for $12.99, and a Disney+ and Hulu ad-supported bundle will be available for $9.99 per month. The current ad-free Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ plan will be priced at $19.99 per month.

Disney announced the pricing changes during its earnings announcement for the third fiscal quarter of 2022 [PDF]. Disney+ gained a total of 14.4 million subscribers during the quarter, and the company now has more than 221 million subscribers across its streaming platforms.

Article Link: Disney Raising Price of Disney+ Subscription to $10.99 and Launching $7.99 Ad-Supported Tier

 

[fel10]

With all these companies raising their prices, pretty soon we will be paying more than we used to pay for cable back in the day.

 

[antiprotest]

Take no prisoner! 🏴‍☠️

 

[nfl_brah]

Soon as my 3 year early bird special ends… peace ✌🏻

 

[kc9hzn]

The introductory price was too good to be true, and I can’t say as though I’m surprised. But I absolutely hate the idea of paying for “premium” content and getting ads! Can you imagine if, back in the 80s, HBO ran advertising in the middle of one of their movies, a la basic cable? The whole idea of premium cable never would have caught on!

 

[antiprotest]

With all these companies raising their prices, pretty soon we will be paying more than we used to pay for cable back in the day.

True, and that's not a good thing, but there are still big differences. With streaming services, we can subscribe and cancel at any time. No home installations or special hardware. We can even stream on our phones out on the street.

And if I am interested in something specific and nothing else, it could be much cheaper. For example, if I only want to watch Asia dramas, as I understand it, with cable I will have to buy a base package and then buy an add-on.

But with streaming, I can subscribe to something like VIKI for $5 (it's free if you don't mind ads and fewer shows). Cable would be more than 10x more expensive.

And if I have enough of Asian dramas, I can cancel and do a few months of Hulu or Crunchyroll, and then cancel that and go back to VIKI or Netflix.

So much better.

 

[seanmcbay]

Poor Disney must be struggling. Surely they wouldn’t ever be greedy.

 

[compwiz1202]

Wonder if VZW will kick subscribers down to Ad Tier or totally abandon the perk

 

[ProfessionalFan]

With all these companies raising their prices, pretty soon we will be paying more than we used to pay for cable back in the day.

This was inevitable sadly.

 

[max2]

With all these companies raising their prices, pretty soon we will be paying more than we used to pay for cable back in the day.

We all already knew that was coming sooner or later.

 

[midkay]

Dang, a dollar or two I'd kind of understand, but that's a big jump. A big, greedy jump.

 

[iDento]

With all these companies raising their prices, pretty soon we will be paying more than we used to pay for cable back in the day.

And you'll still be watching ads the while content quality is getting worse and worse.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Wonder if VZW will kick subscribers down to Ad Tier or totally abandon the perk

It'll give me a reason to downgrade my phone plan if they do. It loses a lot of value without the Disney bundle included.

 

[kinchee87]

So the whole point of introducing a "cheaper" ad-supported plan was to increase the prices of the existing plans?

 

[iDento]

I can live with Apple TV+ and renting movies from TV store only. I don't have time to watch all these shows anyway.

 

[ponzicoinbro]

If you brought someone from 1980s to this era and told them they can watch a big library of stuff unlimited for 10 dollars a month they would say ‘Fk the 80s I’m staying here’.

That is what Back to the Future failed to predict.

 

[appleguy123]

Anyone old enough to remember when one of the perks of cable was content without advertising? Now it’s happening to streaming. As advertising gets better with all the data it has on us, it’s going to be harder and harder to pass the opportunity cost for not advertising onto consumers. I don’t expect to see ad free options even available in 10 years. It’s going to suck because I enjoyed the reprieve from 16 minutes of commercials per 44 minutes of content.

 

[chewbaka]

And people laugh at me for buying Blu-Ray… I have every Disney title I’ll ever want and won’t have to pay Disney for them again or watch any annoying ads to enjoy them.

 

[ratspg]

Is the annual yearly price for Disney+ changing?

 

[ratspg]

And people laugh at me for buying Blu-Ray… I have every Disney title I’ll ever want and won’t have to pay Disney for them again.

My buddy had all his movies purchased on DVD, then when Blu-Ray came around repurchased each one of them to complete his Blu-Ray library. I'm not laughing at you, just curious if they will have some newer format and people will have to jump again.

 

[alexandr]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but somehow paid subscriptions with ads make absolutely no sense to me. If I'm paying for something it better not have f—n ads.

 

[ratspg]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but somehow paid subscriptions with ads make absolutely no sense to me. If I'm paying for something it better not have f—n ads.

My favorite is newspaper subscriptions. Online, paid, and still ads everywhere.

 

[chewbaka]

I don’t expect to see ad free options even available in 10 years.

Fortunately, I don’t think filmmakers would tolerate this. Since the companies can charge what they want, why not have an expensive ad-free tier always available.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Not surprised. Everyone wants to raise their prices now.

 

[j569mxr]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but somehow paid subscriptions with ads make absolutely no sense to me. If I'm paying for something it better not have f—n ads.

That still exists, but now you have to pay even more.