The multi-billion dollar corporation, Disney, has recently confirmed their prior announcements to raise their streaming service prices, include a bundle offer of Disney+ and Hulu, and grow their ad-supported version of Disney+ to Canada and Europe. According to Deadline, “…Disney and its media peers have come under pressure to improve the economics of their streaming businesses. In many cases, that means raising prices and boosting advertising options. CEO Bob Iger announced the new streaming moves at the beginning of the company’s quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts.”
Prices on Disney+ and Hulu will increase as much as three dollars a month for those who wish to stream with no ads, ESPN+ UFC PPV annual cost increases ten dollars, bundle offerings with and without ads will be increased between two to five dollars, and Hulu+ live TV with and without ads will be an additional seven dollars a month. This new price increase will be effective on October 12. Via Deadline, Iger stated, “We grew this business really fast, really before we even understood what our pricing strategy should be or could be… We’re really just getting at, I’d say in the past six months, a pricing strategy that’s really aimed at enabling us to improve the bottom line as we turn this into a growth business.” With the launch of Disney+ in 2019, soon followed by a pandemic that left the world inside to watch television and movies, the initial monthly price of six ninety-nine a month was an attention grabber for Disney fans.
Ad-supported plans, which are new for EMEA and Canada, have plans starting at £4.99/€5.99 and seven dollars and ninety-nine cents a month respectively. Subscribers in applicable markets that already have plans will keep their Premium tier with No Ads subscription when the subscription price increases in December, unless they choose to downgrade to one of the new lower-priced plans.