During an earnings call on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, Disney revealed another round of price increases for access to its streaming channels, including Hulu and ESPN+ even though the number of Disney+ customers fell by more than 10 million in the company’s third fiscal quarter, which concluded on July 1.
How Much Price Did the Disney Raise for Streaming Services?
Disney is raising the prices for almost all of its streaming services to increase corporate profitability. The cost of Disney+ without advertisements will rise by 27% to $13.99 per month beginning October 12.
Disney+ will remain $7.99 per month with advertising. Beginning Nov. 1, Disney will also expand its ad-tier service to a few Canadian and European markets. Hulu without advertising will now cost $17.99 per month, according to a 20% increase by Disney. Hulu with advertising will remain at $7.99 per month.
In comparison, Netflix’s regular subscription without commercials costs $15.49 per month. Max is available via Warner Bros. Discovery for $15.99 per month. You may view the list of higher costs in the post below-
Disney announces new price hikes for their streaming services:
• Disney+ without ads will have a price increase from $10.99 to $13.99 per month for US customers.
• Hulu without ads will increase from $14.99 to $17.99 per month. pic.twitter.com/AMX9HxWdqP
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 9, 2023
Disney believes its video library can compete with Netflix and Max, as seen by its decision to charge nearly as much for Disney+ as both services’ commercial-free counterparts and even more for Hulu. When Disney CEO Bob Iger debuted Disney+ in 2019, he purposely priced the targeted family service at $6.99 monthly, making it less expensive than Netflix.
Customers can save $12 monthly by paying $19.99 for a new “premium duo” option that includes Disney+ and Hulu without commercials. The start date for that promotion is September 6. The monthly pricing of the Disney+ and Hulu bundle with advertisements will remain at $9.99.
You can also check out some of our older posts by clicking on the links provided below:
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Disney also increased the price of its bundle, which includes Disney+ (ad-free), Hulu (ad-free), and ESPN+ (with advertisements), from $19.99 to $24.99 per month. The monthly cost of the $14.99 all-product plan with advertising has risen by $2.
Take a look at the below tweet for increased prices:
Disney+ Premium, and Hulu Premium will increase in price by $3 each
$10.99 to $13.99 Disney+
$14.99 to $17.99 Hulu
The Bundle is moving to $24.99 pic.twitter.com/Xahe06B5Mb— Dexerto (@Dexerto) August 9, 2023
Disney lost $512 million in the third quarter of its fiscal year. Disney+ gained 800,000 new customers in India during that time, excluding Hotstar. At the end of the third quarter, there were around 146 million Disney+ subscribers (excluding Hotstar).
In addition, Disney is boosting the monthly price of Hulu + Live TV with Ads from $69.99 to $76.99. The monthly cost of ad-free Hulu + Live TV will rise from $82.99 to $89.99.
What Did Iger Say About the Disney Prices?
Last year, Disney increased the monthly cost of Disney+ by $3. Iger said he was surprised by the low number of service cancellations due to the price increase. During Disney’s earnings call on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, Iger stated:
“We took a pretty significant price increase at Disney+ sometime late in 2022, and we really didn’t see significant churn or loss of subs because of that which was actually heartening.”
According to Iger, Disney is actively aiming to lure users toward its ad-supported services by retaining the exact pricing for those services. According to Iger, the streaming advertising environment is more beneficial than traditional linear television.
On the call, Iger claimed that Disney had added 3.3 million members in the country since the service’s launch in December. He says about 40% of new Disney+ members have chosen the advertising tier.
Even if the next round of Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes threaten to interrupt its content supply, Disney is betting consumers will pay more for its streaming services. For more information related to these kinds of topics follow us on Twitter and check out our latest posts.
