Disney Raising Prices for Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ This Fall

[Biro]

That's what I thought too as far as Netflix owning their own production studios. They seem to have bought their first studio back in 2018 while spending a good amount of money to "produce their own" shows.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/08/media/netflix-albuquerque-production-studio/index.html

The piece says Netflix was spending $8 billion in 2018 to produce its own movies and TV shows. That’s up to $17 billion this year. No wonder it’s so hard to make money. The traditional studios aren’t spending that much - at least not on streaming…

Netflix will spend ‘vast majority’ of its $17 billion content budget on originals in 2024 despite a deluge of licensed hit shows up for grabs

Sixty-two of the top 100 most-watched titles during the first six months of 2023 were Netflix originals, according to company data.

finance.yahoo.com

Paramount Expects to Spend $6 Billion-Plus on Streaming Content in 2024

Paramount Global (formerly known as ViacomCBS) expects to increase direct-to-consumer content spending to more than $6 billion in 2024.

variety.com

 

[Abazigal]

It’s a victimless crime. People that pirate would never have purchased in the first place. iTunes Music Store being notable exception proving offering value conveniently at a good will draw in tons of business- this is ignored and not the case with any of these services.

The question I have to that then is - how would we (or anyone else) know? You can claim that you would never have paid to go see Deadpool 3 in the cinemas anyways, but that just ends up being your words against mine. There may well have been people who would have ended up paying to go see a movie in the theatre or paid for a month of Disney+ or Netflix were piracy not a feasible option, and we won't know just how many of them there were.

Saying that nobody would have gone to see the movie anyways feels like a stretch.

 

[Bungobungo]

I will continue to pirate

 

[jedimasterkyle]

Ok…and in that same time frame of 6 years, have you not gotten any raises at work? Almost every single employer offers yearly raises for inflation or otherwise. So guess prices should stay the same as well as your pay huh? Makes sense

I work for one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Every year for the past 4 years, my raise has been 0.0001% on a $90K budget that they allow for my department. I'm getting fractions of a penny every year while they rake in BILLIONS every quarter. So now, not every single employer offers yearly raises for inflation. They straight up dont give a ****.

 

[mdatwood]

And you also have to pay for internet. Congrats on the bright future of saving money and sticking it to cable tv. The slow drain will continue until there’s nothing left.

I never understood why people thought streaming would save money except for the ability to better pick what they paid for - not you get everything you had before for somehow less money. For me streaming is about time shifting, no commercials, and generally a much better UX.

The problem I have now is my backlog list of shows is so long, we'll never be able to watch them all.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

I never understood why people thought streaming would save money except for the ability to better pick what they paid for - not you get everything you had before for somehow less money. For me streaming is about time shifting, no commercials, and generally a much better UX.

The problem I have now is my backlog list of shows is so long, we'll never be able to watch them all.

I don't think these streaming services have good user experiences as all. They keep raising prices but the quality of product remains the same. That's my issue. The best example in my case is ESPN+. I get it for the Hockey but they have don't squat to actually improve it in the 4 years I've had to get it.

 

[Chungry]

Good luck in the real world.

View attachment 2403711

Still a victimless crime. Quoting scumbag lawyers soliciting for business does not change that. The world forgot the lesson the iTunes Music Store taught: value and a reasonable price will appeal to people and remove the barriers that kept people pirating. It logically follows then that piracy is the sole fault of the companies not the consumer. Apple proved it without a doubt over a decade ago. I’ve downloaded fallout despite paying for prime because I want to choose how I consume that content. I’ll continue to do so for the 1-2 shows that come along every decade that are worth watching

 

[Chungry]

The question I have to that then is - how would we (or anyone else) know? You can claim that you would never have paid to go see Deadpool 3 in the cinemas anyways, but that just ends up being your words against mine. There may well have been people who would have ended up paying to go see a movie in the theatre or paid for a month of Disney+ or Netflix were piracy not a feasible option, and we won't know just how many of them there were.

Saying that nobody would have gone to see the movie anyways feels like a stretch.

I’m saying some would never pay. But some would if presented with a convenient option of good value. Some folks will always pirate but some go that route after being spurned by services lacking value and convenience. The market will ultimately decide that.

 

[Bandoholic]

I’m in the habit of using a service and after I’ve watched all the new releases I’m interested in, I cancel it and go to another service and just repeat the process.

 

[charlesdayton]

Didn't cable have ads as well?

Not for premium channels

Didn't cable have ads as well?

AFAIR premium channels didn’t had them. And the ads in basic channels where minimal compared to the ones on streaming.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I get the Disney Bundle with Verizon. I'm curious if this price hike affects that.

 

[jimimac71]

Almost time to sign up for old school cable. I remember when that was considered expensive. 🤣

I only have cable and it goes up too. To receive what I get with cable would require YouTube TV and Philo.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Almost time to sign up for old school cable. I remember when that was considered expensive. 🤣

Don't forget with cable you have all those fees that are added on to the final bill. That is one aspect I still like about streaming, even though I have a feeling those fees will come to the streaming world in the next few years.

 

[webkit]

Not for premium channels

Ad-free streaming services don't have (intrusive) ads either. Also, premium channels despite having less content, no on-demand, etc. used to be a lot more expensive (adjusting for inflation) than today's streaming services even with the latest price increases.

And the ads in basic channels where minimal compared to the ones on streaming.

Minimal?? Typical basic cable channels have 2 to 3 more ads per hour than typical premium ad-supported streaming services. The networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) are even worse.

 

[mdatwood]

Ad-free streaming services don't have (intrusive) ads either. Also, premium channels despite having less content, no on-demand, etc. used to be a lot more expensive (adjusting for inflation) than today's streaming services even with the latest price increases.

Minimal?? Typical basic cable channels have 2 to 3 more ads per hour than typical premium ad-supported streaming services. The networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) are even worse.

Yeah. I get it, people hate it when prices go up. But this idea that cable is equivalent or better "gasp" is not remembering the past correctly.

Nearly all streaming has ad free options whereas cable only had add free on a few premium channels. The ondemand catalog on cable was much smaller until streaming services came out that let cable customers use those instead. People had to pay for something like HBO, now it's HBO plus everything else available on the service. My AppleTV UX is 100x better than any garbage the cable company ever gave me. And all this before we even talk about the amount of content available. It's really no comparison.

 

[MacMikePro]

Thanks for reminding me to hold off subscribing to watch the latest Bear and Fargo seasons until there's a new season of The Mandalorian.

I don’t even know if we should expect a new season of The Mandalorian, my guess is the story will end with the movie, either way that wait would be many years away. But The Bear did end with kind of a cliffhanger ending so I would agree with you to just wait until season 4 at least lol.

 

[MacMikePro]

looks like I will be letting go of HULU this October.

Literally no one believes you, nor do they think your edgy and cool

 

[akidokraja]

Ok…and in that same time frame of 6 years, have you not gotten any raises at work? Almost every single employer offers yearly raises for inflation or otherwise. So guess prices should stay the same as well as your pay huh? Makes sense

That is absolutely not true. Plenty of employers that did NOT adjust salaries for inflation. I know at least 4-5 companies that did not raise the salaries to match inflation.

 

[Ledsteplin]

That is absolutely not true. Plenty of employers that did NOT adjust salaries for inflation. I know at least 4-5 companies that did not raise the salaries to match inflation.

Small businesses are least likely to give COLA raises. Can't afford to most of the time. And some companies use the merit system. But it doesn’t always reflect inflation.

 

[jedimasterkyle]

Small businesses are least likely to give COLA raises. Can't afford to most of the time. And some companies use the merit system. But it doesn’t always reflect inflation.

Sure, small businesses may not be able to always afford COLA raises but what about the corporations who rake in billions every quarter and then cry poverty come raise time while their C-levels get millions in bonuses.

Companies like Disney, Netflix, Paramount etc... all rely upon the consumer to drive their streaming platforms but what happens when the consumers are flat broke because other billion dollar corporations refuse to give raises? They're expecting to have it both ways. You can't have record profits every year and expect the consumer/customer base to just keep forking over money that they dont have. Eventually, something is going to give.

Not a 1:1 example but pretty close...

 

[TonyC28]

Probably an article in the works, but I got a notification that Peacock is increasing their price from $11.99 to $13.99 starting this month.

 

[webkit]

Probably an article in the works, but I got a notification that Peacock is increasing their price from $11.99 to $13.99 starting this month.

The price increases were announced in April and went into effect for new customers in July and existing customers starting in August. Peacock Premium (with ads) went from $5.99/month to $7.99/month and Peacock Premium Plus (without ads) went from $11.99/month to $13.99/month. Annual plans also increased.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Decided to re up for ESPN+ for the Hockey season now so I won't be impacted by the price increase until next year. I hate the ESPN+ interface though.