Starting on December 8th in the US, Disney has announced that it would increase the cost of Disney Plus from its current rate of $7.99 per month to $10.99 per month. The firm is making the change as part of an effort to reorganize its pricing choices, which soon will include a $7.99/month ad-supported tier.
Disney has increased the cost of its Hulu membership as well. The ad-supported version will now cost $7.99 per month, up from $6.99, while the ad-free tier will go from $12.99 to $14.99 per month. October 10 marks the implementation of the new price. In July, it was revealed that unbundled ESPN Plus streaming will increase in price from $6.99 to $9.99 per month.
Bundled plans are also impacted by the price hikes. Users will pay $14.99 per month instead of $13.99 if they have Disney Plus with no ads and Hulu and ESPN Plus with ads. Disney is also launching a $9.99/month package that includes Disney Plus and Hulu with advertising. Disney Plus, Hulu, and the ad-supported version of ESPN Plus will all cost $19.99 a month.
Disney has altered the cost of its Hulu live TV packages as well. The monthly pricing of Hulu’s live TV package including Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus subscriptions will be $69.99. The price of the live TV package, which includes ad-supported Hulu and ESPN Plus subscriptions as well as ad-free Disney Plus, is $74.99. You must spend $82.99 a month to receive a live TV subscription that excludes ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, or Hulu from having ads.
Around the same time Netflix reported a drop in members for the first time in ten years, Disney claimed an increase of 8 million new Disney Plus customers during the most recent quarter. However, at the same time, its direct-to-consumer division, which includes the streaming units, lost more money than in previous years, according to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who also claims that the company added 14.4 million new Disney Plus subscribers in the third quarter, bringing the total number of subscribers to 152 million and 221 million across all of its services. Disney claims that the losses were caused by growing Disney Plus production and programming expenditures as well as rising ESPN Plus sports programming costs.
The business revised its subscriber prediction for 2024 during an earnings conference. Instead of its earlier projection of 230 million to 260 million members, it now anticipates Disney Plus to have somewhere between 215 million and 245 million.
During the conference call, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy stated, “We remain confident that Disney Plus will become profitable in fiscal 2024.”
Chapek said that the business has “been in talks with a lot of different platforms” to add the feature and that it intends “to have something to announce in the future in terms of a partnership” when questioned about sports betting, which he has previously hinted at.