Disney+ Won't Offer a Cheaper Ad-Supported Plan Anytime Soon

[kazmac]

Speaking only for myself,

7.99 is a very good deal considering the variety of content. And now that the Marvel and Star Wars arms are releasing content at a good clip (and excellent content at that), it's an even better value imo. Disney+ is the only subscription I pay for and I think it's worth.

I do not need want or need cheaper ad supported streaming, what I want is the opportunity to actually buy some of this content too, in addition to the subscription. (Appendages crossed the Marvel Phase Four blu ray set will include the D+ shows, I'd finally buy the blu ray if so.)

 

[rotlex]

Honestly, Disney Plus is an incredible deal for any Disney, Marvel, Star Wars or other fans. The amount and quality of the content is fantastic. I hope they keep it just the way it is for a long time into the future.

 

[Premium1]

HBO's ad-supported tier is only $5/mo less? That seems easily not worth unless you use it so little that the ads don't take up much of your time.

Not to mention you don't get the same day as theater movie launches either on the ad-supported HBO plan.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Wouldn't Disney+ with commercials just be like watching regular TV? I don't know about anyone else, but if I pay for a 'channel', I expect to see the content without commercials. I mean, why pay for a boutique service AND commercials. I have a very strong dislike of commercials, especially when they are on something I pay extra for.

 

[smaffei]

To be honest it's probably the best value streaming service out there. It's got all the Disney and pixar content. Marvel, The mandolorian and national geographic and box sets to boot.

And, it has a lot of content in 4K HDR / Dolby Vision. That's a huge win for me!

I dropped Netflix because 4K access is $18 a month!

 

[smaffei]

I think a lot people overlook that the subscription fee is only one part of Disney+'s success.

Disney+ is a huge catalyst for a product marketing system. Just look at all of the "Manadlorian" and Marvel products that have been sold in the last year because of those shows. Even if Disney is losing money on the service, they're easily making it up on the merchandising.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Maybe some day, Apple TV+ will reach 100M+ paid subscribers too.

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Apple doesn’t need it though in order to make money on streaming. Apple TV+ is essentially subsidized by hardware sale, even if trial is going down to just 3 months with new hardware purchase. Apple hardware brings lot of money for them compared to subscription service.

The fact that the Disney channel didn't have outside ads is precisely why me and my brother were forced to watch it (IE Cartoon Network etc wasn't allowed) 3-12. Makes sense now, it took up time and we didn't whine about having a particular brand of fruit snack.

I’m so sorry you had to go through that as a child. You missed out a lot

I'm the opposite. Netflix has a huge range of original shows that don't fit the remit for the fluffy family friendly PC crap Disney churns out.

Agreed. One problem I have with Disney+, it’s sometimes too family friendly.

Mandalorian would’ve been LOT Better if it was rated TV-MA with more gory content with copious amount of adult language. Would make the show lot more intense and to edge of the seat, and give directors and producers more creative freedom. This is why Netflix and HBO Max shows are more successful: mature adult content.

 

[alien3dx]

13 dollar 3 month .. dam cheap for me here..
8 dollar something for netflix per month .. i want to downgrade .. 1 person
0 for apple tv+ which i don't see what worthy yet.. finish this month free 1 year trial

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

Mandalorian would’ve been LOT Better if it was rated TV-MA with more gory content with copious amount of adult language. Would make the show lot more intense and to edge of the seat, and give directors and producers more creative freedom. This is why Netflix and HBO Max shows are more successful: mature adult content.

Star Wars is a franchise aimed at families, always has been. If you want that stuff, watch stuff made for adults instead of a show about a little spaceman fella going on adventures with a baby space pixie.

 

[DeepIn2U]

HBO's ad-supported tier is only $5/mo less? That seems easily not worth unless you use it so little that the ads don't take up much of your time.

I think it's more than just $$ and great revenue for Disney+ Not sure now much control long term of ads in a free stream supported option they've have control over. What is an ad supplier uploads the wrong ad while your kid is watching Frozen and boom up comes a wacky commercial for Viagra or Trojan's (especially if sourced from Europe) lol. That would a VERY tough conversation.

 

[Westside guy]

They have 600M paid iCloud subscribers and it's only a few bucks more to add TV+.

I wonder just how many of those are at the same iCloud tier I am - $0.99/month for 50GB - just to avoid any problems with automatic iCloud backup of their devices.

 

[bowens]

Mandalorian would’ve been LOT Better if it was rated TV-MA with more gory content with copious amount of adult language. Would make the show lot more intense and to edge of the seat, and give directors and producers more creative freedom. This is why Netflix and HBO Max shows are more successful: mature adult content.

I strongly disagree. Adding gore and "adult language" doesn't necessarily make something better. Mandalorian has been a huge hit. I don't think it would have been as big a hit if it was TV-MA.

 

[kazmac]

Apple doesn’t need it though in order to make money on streaming. Apple TV+ is essentially subsidized by hardware sale, even if trial is going down to just 3 months with new hardware purchase. Apple hardware brings lot of money for them compared to subscription service.



I’m so sorry you had to go through that as a child. You missed out a lot


Agreed. One problem I have with Disney+, it’s sometimes too family friendly.

Mandalorian would’ve been LOT Better if it was rated TV-MA with more gory content with copious amount of adult language. Would make the show lot more intense and to edge of the seat, and give directors and producers more creative freedom. This is why Netflix and HBO Max shows are more successful: mature adult content.

Don’t worry, some Marvel shows will skew toward darker and more violent content (I still cannot believe Moon Knight is on the way. So psyched for that.)

Disagree about The Mandalorian for the reasons folks have said.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Star Wars is a franchise aimed at families, always has been.

And that’s why it’s in decline. Star Trek was in similar situation: it was aimed at family and therefore, family friendly content. (Although some were bit borderline too much for family friendly)

After the franchise was rebooted on Paramount+ with TV-MA rating with adult content and hardcore violence, franchise interested picked up tremendously, gaining lots of new fans.

sometimes, franchise needs to go in new direction in order to get new audience. Right now, Star Wars is not gaining new fans, just hardcore fans that are slowly and sadly losing interests. If they want new generation of fans and not lose them to Netflix or HBO Max content, they have to step up and offer Star Wars that is more geared towards adults. Mandalorian has that potential. They just need to fine tune it with adult language and content and have it rated TV-MA like Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Picard.

I strongly disagree. Adding gore and "adult language" doesn't necessarily make something better. Mandalorian has been a huge hit. I don't think it would have been as big a hit if it was TV-MA.

Don’t worry, some Marvel shows will skew toward darker and more violent content (I still cannot believe Moon Knight is on the way. So psyched for that.)

Disagree about The Mandalorian for the reasons folks have said.

Marvel shows are darker but on Disney+, not dark enough. They need to get to “Deadpool” level dark, like language and gore if they want to capture more audience.

remember, people go to streaming or get premium channels like HBO or Showtime to get content that can’t be shown on broadcast TV or basic cable. Disney+ is acting like basic cable and that’s not going to work in long run.

 

[michaelant]

Honestly. You still have to pay $300 for a rare DVD if you want all the 1951-1961 Donald cartoons. It’ll cost about $800 if you want the cartoons from the characters start to the 60’s.
Was hoping Disney+ would fix the problem but they continue to hold on to the old cartoons for some reason.

Do you think the reason they don't have more classic animation on Disney+ is that it hasn't been mastered in high definition?

I bought the two Silly Symphonies tins and the On The Front Lines tin recently, and they do look good just on dvd, but of course they'd look better in blu-ray quality. I was surprised - I counted them up and it's only like 20% of the stuff in Silly Symphonies is on Disney+, and probably nothing on the WWII dvds is on Disney+. I wanna see this stuff! But I'll have to wait until I'm rich to get some of the more sought after tins. Maybe eventually they'll stream more of it in HD.

 

[Karma*Police]

It's already pretty cheap. Cheaper than rivals. But then again, content is meager if you're an adult without kids. Most Star Wars and Marvel fans already saw all those movies in theaters so there's not much left. Mando was great, but WandaVision and Falcon/Winter Soldier were really disappointing IMO. I canceled my sub after that. I heard Loki is even worse.

 

[acorntoy]

Do you think the reason they don't have more classic animation on Disney+ is that it hasn't been mastered in high definition?

I bought the two Silly Symphonies tins and the On The Front Lines tin recently, and they do look good just on dvd, but of course they'd look better in blu-ray quality. I was surprised - I counted them up and it's only like 20% of the stuff in Silly Symphonies is on Disney+, and probably nothing on the WWII dvds is on Disney+. I wanna see this stuff! But I'll have to wait until I'm rich to get some of the more sought after tins. Maybe eventually they'll stream more of it in HD.

Im not sure they’ll ever release the WWII stuff (at least that which pertained to war scenarios and wasn’t just entertainment for home) some of it is either really racist or dark, and I think they don’t generally want kids to be thinking of their characters as war makers. Mickeys nice he’s not trying to drop a bomb on the Germans. For the amount of material Disney put out during the war it’s rarely mentioned. I’ve never seen the Donald WWII shorts outside the tins.

With the quality - do you feel like the episodes on Disney+ are higher quality than the dvd? The few Donald shorts that are on Disney+ look to be the same quality as the dvd to me.

 

[dandeco]

It's still a pretty affordable subscription price, and it still has an amazing library, even if it could use more classic cartoon shorts. In fact, I recently did a vlog as the Big Bad Wolf showing how Disney+ even includes many of the more obscure live-action Disney movies that were featured on the "Walt Disney And You" closing promo on the early-to-mid 1980s Disney videotapes!

And yes, keeping with the Apple subject, I produced this on my M1 MacBook Air using Final Cut Pro and Adobe Photoshop 2021.

 

[michaelant]

.With the quality - do you feel like the episodes on Disney+ are higher quality than the dvd? The few Donald shorts that are on Disney+ look to be the same quality as the dvd to me.

Oh I agree with the WWII animations, those will never be on Disney+. They’re really fascinating though, more interesting than straight up entertaining.

I’ll get back to you about the quality. Those tins were a recent purchase and I’ve only watched the WWII stuff so far. I went through and noted which Silly Symphonies were streaming, with the intent to watch those in 1080p on Disney+, and the rest in 480p off the dvds. But blu-ray players make it look better than 480 of course, with uoscaling. I watched some classic shorts on Disney+ and they looked like 1080p, so I thought everything is, but I haven’t actually compared anything of the Symphonies shorts yet. It’ll be interesting to find out. I’ll give an example over the weekend, probably.

 

[kyykesko]

They still don't offer trial so I've no interest in paying them blindly just to see what I'd get. If there was free tier with ads I could at least give it a try, now there's no point. The original pricing was nearly low enough to just give it a go but after the recent price hikes it's less and less interesting. Currently at 8,99e/mo. ($10,77). Can't really see why I should bother.

I used the 'free' tier on Spotify for a while but quite quickly began paying for the ad free one. Some prefer to watch the ads rather than pay something, my life is too short for that. At the same time I refuse to pay for something if I don't even get to try it, so Disney can keep their + for all I care.

 

[alien3dx]

It's already pretty cheap. Cheaper than rivals. But then again, content is meager if you're an adult without kids. Most Star Wars and Marvel fans already saw all those movies in theaters so there's not much left. Mando was great, but WandaVision and Falcon/Winter Soldier were really disappointing IMO. I canceled my sub after that. I heard Loki is even worse.

loki .. 2 episode seem good. mandolarian good ..

Yes, some of movies allready i watch in movies but in reality movies not good way to see these day.. At home much better enviroment with current lockdown weird in my country

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

And that’s why it’s in decline.

After the franchise was rebooted on Paramount+ with TV-MA rating with adult content and hardcore violence, franchise interested picked up tremendously, gaining lots of new fans.

Right now, Star Wars is not gaining new fans, just hardcore fans that are slowly and sadly losing interests.

They need to get to “Deadpool” level dark, like language and gore if they want to capture more audience.

What is your evidence for any of these claims? Star Wars is "in decline" by what measure? Star Trek gained lots of new fans, when, after Discovery, one of the worst-received Star Trek series was released? Or Picard, which is a niche spin-off? Deadpool was amazingly successful for what it is, but according to wikipedia they're the 24th and 25th-highest grossing superhero movies of all time, which hardly suggests that other franchises need to start aping Deadpool to "capture more audience".

 

[ipponrg]

Right now, Star Wars is not gaining new fans, just hardcore fans that are slowly and sadly losing interests.

If it were true, then there wouldn’t be so many Star Wars series in production, let alone merchandising and long lines at Galaxy Edge for the rides. There is something for everyone. Anecdotally, I have noticed the animated shows (Bad Batch, Rebels, Clone Wars) bringing in a new but slightly different audience than the non-animated shows.

remember, people go to streaming or get premium channels like HBO or Showtime to get content that can’t be shown on broadcast TV or basic cable. Disney+ is acting like basic cable and that’s not going to work in long run.

Remember that Disney+ today has over 100M subscribers globally with expansion plans still. HBO max has less than 64M subscribers globally and had been in streaming previously with HBO Now. Those numbers certainly do not align with your assessment.

 

[kazmac]

And that’s why it’s in decline. Star Trek was in similar situation: it was aimed at family and therefore, family friendly content. (Although some were bit borderline too much for family friendly)

After the franchise was rebooted on Paramount+ with TV-MA rating with adult content and hardcore violence, franchise interested picked up tremendously, gaining lots of new fans.

sometimes, franchise needs to go in new direction in order to get new audience. Right now, Star Wars is not gaining new fans, just hardcore fans that are slowly and sadly losing interests. If they want new generation of fans and not lose them to Netflix or HBO Max content, they have to step up and offer Star Wars that is more geared towards adults. Mandalorian has that potential. They just need to fine tune it with adult language and content and have it rated TV-MA like Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Picard.





Marvel shows are darker but on Disney+, not dark enough. They need to get to “Deadpool” level dark, like language and gore if they want to capture more audience.

remember, people go to streaming or get premium channels like HBO or Showtime to get content that can’t be shown on broadcast TV or basic cable. Disney+ is acting like basic cable and that’s not going to work in long run.

Sounds like you want something that Disney will mostly skip. However, Star Wars and Marvel do not need gore, etc. You can go extremely dark and disturbing without showing anything.

I get what you want, but Disney will keep Deadpool R and push as hard as they can with some Marvel shows without an R rating. If the fight training is any indication, Moon Knight may get bloody, he’ll probably kill people on camera. Graphic gore, probably not and that’s fine.

The nice thing is you can have what you want with those other services or by reading MA comics. Disney+ material works and honors the source material too.

 

[tonyr6]

CBS ruined Star Trek with its mature rating which is why I refuse to watch it anymore.

I am so glad Disney bought Star Wars if another company like CBS would have bought it they would loaded it with sex, swearing and graphic violence.