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Disney Raising Prices for Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ This Fall
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Literally talking about a dollar or two here, and people all in their feelings lol
Exactly. All the streaming services are adding live sports because it is a sure-fire way to keep people subscribed. Every time I read about a streaming service I subscribe to adding a new live sport series, I count the days until they raise my rates to cover it.
Disney has been ruining every franchise it owns.
Disney will soon increase the cost of its suite of streaming services, including Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+. Prices will go up for both ad-supported and ad-free plans, and some of Disney's bundles will also be more expensive. Most plans are increasing by $1 to $2.
The Disney Duo Basic plan with ad-supported versions of Hulu and Disney+ is going from $9.99 to $10.99, but pricing for the premium version is not changing and will remain at $19.99.
- Disney+ With Ads - $9.99, up from $7.99
- Disney+ Ad-Free - $15.99, up from $13.99
- Hulu With Ads - $9.99, up from $7.99
- Hulu Ad-Free - $18.99, up from $17.99
- ESPN+ - $11.99, up from $10.99
The ad-supported trio bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ is increasing from $14.99 to $16.99, and the premium trio bundle is increasing from $24.99 to $26.99. Hulu's Live TV plan with VoD ads will be priced at $82.99, up from $76.99, and the ad-free version will be priced at $95.99, up from $89.99.
Disney is giving Disney+ subscribers access to ABC News Live and new continuous playlists starting on September 4, with the first playlist offering preschool content. Four additional curated playlists are set to come out later this year with seasonal content, "Epic Stories" from franchises like Marvel and Star Wars, "Throwbacks" with nostalgic pop culture content, and "Real Life" with documentaries and biopics.
Disney plans to implement the pricing increases on Thursday, October 17. Disney said in its blog post that its subscription plans "remain among the best values in streaming today."
Article Link: Disney Raising Prices for Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ This Fall
Raising the prices once again is ridiculous and I hope that Disney will suffer an even greater loss on the stock market than it had recently.
So my question is, what are these companies supposed to do? Production is getting more expensive, actors are getting more expensive, licensing is getting more expensive, costs are just going up. Are they supposed to just eat the costs?
A dollar here, a dollar there. When everyone starts asking for a dollar here and a dollar there, it adds up.
Eating out costs a dollar or two more per person here... oh well
Groceries cost a dollar or two here per item ... oh well
Electricity costs a few dollars per bill ... oh well
Gas costs a dollar or two more per gallon... oh well
Netflix costs...
Hulu costs...
Disney+ costs...
Parmount+ costs...
Amazon Prime costs...
Cell phone bill costs...
Internet bill costs...
Higher auto loan rates...
Higher mortgage rates...
At some point, people just say enough is enough and start cutting back. I'm at a point in my life where, even though I can afford to eat out and afford to have all of these services, we've just chosen to cut back because it isn't necessary. It's made me realize what's important and what's not. When eating out started becoming increasingly more expensive, we just started making meals at home and being more aware of our intake. As a result, we've lowered our cholesterol and blood sugar, lost weight, and stopped eating so much processed junk that we previously did for the sake of convenience.
And paying inflated prices for a streaming service that we don't fully utilize is the next thing that we're going to give the boot.
Paying for ad supported plans makes no sense. More so now that streaming services keep increasing both prices and amount of ads.
I miss cable
I miss cable
The value propostion continues to decline for me... It is not just the increasing cost, but the inability to sort through everything offered to find something of personal value. I feel the same thing is happening to music thanks to streaming... an ever increasing challenge to find the 'good' from the 'not so good', to the point that fatigue is all that it generates. I have more than once looked through offerings before realizing I spent 45 minutes on it, at which point I gave up and went off to either do something else or reverted to rewatching/re-listening to something.
Maybe AI will be the saviour we all need... /s
Maybe AI will be the saviour we all need... /s
Not to mention all the apps that want you to pay them every month for something you may only use a few times each month.
Can the NHL take back streaming rights so I can stream the games on it's website and not ESPN+? I don't want all that extra crap and now the price is what it was on NHL.com a few years ago, not to mention they still black out NHL Network games.
Also, the ESPN+ experience is still pretty bad, and we are, what, year 4 of this agreement? This agreement has been bad for NHL fans in the states. If you're going to raise the price, put NHL Network on the service for those who do not have it.
Also, the ESPN+ experience is still pretty bad, and we are, what, year 4 of this agreement? This agreement has been bad for NHL fans in the states. If you're going to raise the price, put NHL Network on the service for those who do not have it.
I swear, if it wasn't for my kids, I'd probably cancel everything and just go back to quietly reading a good book in the evening. I'm a slow reader so a $12 novel is good for a while.
ESPN worst. Doing ridiculous deals and just expecting us to pay. Most all of these really. Until consumers just stop paying, will just continue.
And a higher price.
Netflix standard (1080p) = $15.49/mo
Netflix premium (4K) = $22.99/mo
Disney Bundle Duo Premium (Disney+ and Hulu, both with no ads) = $19.99/mo
Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max Bundle (All with No Ads) = $29.99/mo
3 streaming services (Netflix standard, Disney+, and Hulu) for $35.48/mo.
Want 4K Netflix instead of 1080p? $42.98/mo
Want 4 streaming services? Netflix 4K, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max = $52.98/mo *and* NO ADS
Meanwhile, Spectrum cable tv (SPECTRUM TV SELECT SIGNATURE, 150+ Channels) is $64.99/mo for the first 12 months then it jumps to who knows what. And I have to watch content based on their schedule, not mine like with streaming.
And that $64.99 does not include all the taxes and fees, which is at least another 50%.
It was inevitable once they added paid ad tiers that they’d raise that price to the previous one the ad free was at. Cancelled Netflix and Disney+ over a year ago now and don’t feel like I’m missing much. The rate at which they keep raising these is ridiculous.
I have no interest in subbing to these services, especially with the regular increases. There is something to be said for the content quality of older shows. I have found that outside of a few show exceptions, todays programming can’t compete with what I call classic tv and that is what I spend time watching on my Plex.
I fed these numbers into chatGPT and had it calculate the projected monthly rates by year for the next 11 years based on the average growth rate, which it found to be 21.08% per year (
- 2025: $19.36
- 2026: $23.44
- 2027: $28.38
- 2028: $34.37
- 2029: $41.61
- 2030: $50.38
- 2031: $61.00
- 2032: $73.86
- 2033: $89.43
- 2034: $108.29
- 2035: $131.11
A healthy walk outside continues to be free … and, for me, preferable
Maybe slow down with exclusive content for starters. It’s mostly crap because they rush it.
chatGPT if off and the further out you go, the more wrong chatGPT is. Thanks for proving that AI sucks. 🤣
If Disney's raising prices by $2-$3 per year (let's average it out at $2.50/year), then prices over the next 11 years will be...
$6.99/mo (2019)
$7.99/mo (2021)
$10.99/mo (2022)
$13.99/mo (2023)
$15.99/mo (2024)
2025 = $18.49
2026 = $20.99
2027 = $23.49
2028 = $25.99
2029 = $28.49
2030 = $30.99
2031 = $33.49
2032 = $35.99
2033 = $38.49
2034 = $40.99
2035 = $43.49
Even with a $3/yr increase, by 2035 it would be $48.99. Now compare that to chatGPT's estimate of $131.11 🤣
ChatGPT would still be way off if prices rose by $5/yr where it'd be $70.99/mo in 2035.
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