Disney is hiking prices across all of its streaming platforms this fall

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: Disney has announced yet another wave of price hikes due to make landfall later this year. From October 17, 2024, new and existing subscribers in the US will see price hikes across the board as part of a strategy that's becoming far too frequent.

Both the ad-supported and ad-free Disney+ plans will increase by $2 per month, from $7.99 to $9.99 and from $13.99 to $15.99 per month, respectively. Hulu is also getting hiked. The ad-supported plan will soon cost $9.99 per month (up two bucks a month); the ad-free plan is going up a buck a month to $18.99. ESPN+, meanwhile, will increase by one dollar to $11.99 a month.

Those hoping to save some scratch with a bundle will get a bit of relief depending on which plan they choose. The duo basic plan, which includes Disney+ and Hulu (both with ads), will increase to $10.99 from the current $9.99, but the ad-free option will remain unchanged in price at $19.99 a month.

Last but certainly not least, Disney's Hulu + Live TV bundle (with ads) is going up to $82.99 a month (currently $75.99 a month) while the ad-free tier will soon command $95.99 a month.

In an attempt to justify the price hike, Disney+ said it would be adding ABC News Live and a playlist focused on preschool content to its core subscription on-demand offerings beginning September 4. Four more curated playlists will follow later in the fall, we're told, centered around seasonal content, "epic stories" from marquee brands and franchises, throwbacks, and real life stories via documentaries and biopics.

The subscription model has caught on like wildfire in recent years, and regular price increases are par for the course. Nearly a year ago to the day, Disney announced a round of price hikes that saw some tiers increase in cost by 27 percent. And it's not just a Disney issue as virtually every company offering subscription services engages in frequent price bumps.

Image credit: Craig Adderley

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Disney is hiking prices across all of its streaming platforms this fall

 

[RudyBob]

If there was somethings on that I liked to watch but since there is not and Disney is not putting out content for everyone I think this is a good choice. Maybe it will mean fewer subscribers. Disney has lost a lot of money as of late but they are hardly broke.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Lost money where? Quarterly earnings, released today:

• "Earnings per share: $1.39 adjusted vs. $1.19 expected
• Revenue: $23.16 billion vs. $23.07 billion expected

...total segment operating income increased 19% to $4.225 billion compared with the same period last year, led by the positive results for Disney’s entertainment unit, particularly streaming."

And that's before this price hike. Mouse got his Billions.

 

[Dr Roboto]

Just an FYI. This article got me thinking about how much it costs to stream vs. "cable" TV. Obviously, most people that opt for TV also end up with one or more streaming services.

Fios internet (300 Mbps) $49.99 (if you only stream you may need to upgrade to 500 Mbps for $74.99)

Streaming cost per month (does not include any live TV; this is all the major services but you don't need them all):
Disney $15.99
Netflix $15.49
Paramount+ $11.99
Hulu $19.99 (excluding live TV which costs an additional $75.99/month!)
Peacock $13.99
Max $20.99
Prime $14.99
------------------
Total $113.43

Fios TV cost per month:
"Most" Fios TV $129 (Does NOT include internet service; does includes 425 channels, MGM+, Paramount + with SHOWTIME & STARZ)

 

[wiyosaya]

IMO, no surprises, even with their positive earnings report, that they are raising the price on their service since they have been, supposedly, losing money on their streaming service since day one.

Basically, I don't care if they are raising the price. I'm not a regular Disney+ subscriber; I do not have it right now. At some point, I will subscribe again, then dump it after I"ve watched what I want to watch.

IMO, all the streaming services that are hiking their price better watch out with those price hikes as there will come a time when people will raise their middle-fingers at them due to not wanting to pay such a high price. That is the reason, IMO, that people dropped cable/satellite in the first place. I know that is my reason. The value for Satellite was not there even with 500 channels of crap to choose from. (To paraphrase the Pink Floyd song.)

Just an FYI. This article got me thinking about how much it costs to stream vs. "cable" TV. Obviously, most people that opt for TV also end up with one or more streaming services.

Fios internet (300 Mbps) $49.99 (if you only stream you may need to upgrade to 500 Mbps for $74.99)

Streaming cost per month (does not include any live TV; this is all the major services but you don't need them all):
Disney $15.99
Netflix $15.49
Paramount+ $11.99
Hulu $19.99 (excluding live TV which costs an additional $75.99/month!)
Peacock $13.99
Max $20.99
Prime $14.99
------------------
Total $113.43

Fios TV cost per month:
"Most" Fios TV $129 (Does NOT include internet service; does includes 425 channels, MGM+, Paramount + with SHOWTIME & STARZ)

Yes, absolutely. No one needs all of these services at the same time. With only my wife and I in my household, there would be no way that we could possibly watch all that we want to watch across all the services.

BirtBox is another service that may deserve being added to this list.

And "Live TV" does not have to cost anyone anything other than an investment in a TV Antenna and some sort of DVR solution. My wife and I watch quite a bit of OTA TV aka Live TV and it costs us nothing.

Lastly, we have 500 Mbps symmetric fiber for $55/mo, however, we do not consider that as part of the "streaming" bill since we would have that anyway.

We have Netflix, half of which is paid for through our T-Mobile phone service and OTA TV. Nothing more.

 

[lripplinger]

I saw a Film Threat video talking about streaming services. Disney is lucky to get 2% of the streaming service viewership pie. The biggest chunk of the pie is taken up by YouTube. Disney will likely decrease their already dwindling subscriber numbers, but that doesn't seem to affect them. They continue to produce garbage that most people streaming content from the internet don't care to watch.

 

[kiwigraeme]

We don't have the analytics
streaming vs taking family to cinema excellent value
One service vs another quien sabe?
how many people just pay and continue to pay
How many will drop from 3 to 2
How any binge and change etc

What is interesting one year costs 10 months , this implies many just continue to pay month after month
When you get 1 year for 8 months you know people en masse are chopping and changing

Then you many many people with inflation now struggling
But what does that mean -go to an event , restaurant or stay home buy snacks and watch a movie
Eg with tax on alcohol in NZ - many young kiwis don't go to pubs etc as often, or pre-load at home before going to nightclubs, When I was a student you could get a jug of beer to share for say US $2.50 which was 1.8 litres . So for 4 mates the afternoon cost $2.50 each as we took turns buying a jug

 

[Sherwoodnt]

0 * 1.2 = 0

 

[p51d007]

Remember when everyone was saying "time to cut the cord" with regard to cable and go streaming?
Now maybe it's time to "cut the cord" with regard to streaming, and start going to torrent sites etc.

 

[daffy duck]

Trash tier streaming service. It wasn't worth the original price of $5.99.

 

[IcyKn1ght]

I remember when the ad-free Disney+ was $7.99/mo. Those were good days.

 

[YHWACH]

Just an FYI. This article got me thinking about how much it costs to stream vs. "cable" TV. Obviously, most people that opt for TV also end up with one or more streaming services.

Fios internet (300 Mbps) $49.99 (if you only stream you may need to upgrade to 500 Mbps for $74.99)

Streaming cost per month (does not include any live TV; this is all the major services but you don't need them all):
Disney $15.99
Netflix $15.49
Paramount+ $11.99
Hulu $19.99 (excluding live TV which costs an additional $75.99/month!)
Peacock $13.99
Max $20.99
Prime $14.99
------------------
Total $113.43

Fios TV cost per month:
"Most" Fios TV $129 (Does NOT include internet service; does includes 425 channels, MGM+, Paramount + with SHOWTIME & STARZ)

The only thing I pay for is my internet connection.

 

[Starfals]

Many people already question the current prices... oh well, I guess people will stop subscribing to it now. I know I did, even awhile ago. Its just not worth it.

 

[Farkinell]

I must hand it to them, no idea how they make so much cash churning out absolute guff, but I guess I'm not the target audience. We have a free subscription for a couple of months which I'll use to watch the fantastic Shogun, then cancel.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I don't pay for my access to Disney+. Which is nice because I don't even go on it anymore to see what they offer. Any shows they did have that I wanted to watch were either outright terrible and I didn't get past the first episode or they were just good enough (aside from Andor which I thought was well done) that I slowly made it through the series over the course of a few months.

There is nothing on their streaming service that I want to watch again or that I am eagerly waiting to drop where I'd want to give them any money.

 

[toooooot]

$82.99 a month, old cable tv is back.

 

[Tinderbox]

I saw a Film Threat video talking about streaming services. Disney is lucky to get 2% of the streaming service viewership pie. The biggest chunk of the pie is taken up by YouTube. Disney will likely decrease their already dwindling subscriber numbers, but that doesn't seem to affect them. They continue to produce garbage that most people streaming content from the internet don't care to watch.

I don't think anyone's subscribing for the new original content. They're doing it for access to the legacy library of Disney/Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, etc. favorites. Reminder of why it's still important to collect your own discs.