Disney+ will get an ad-supported tier later this year

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Disney is planning to expand access to its direct-to-consumer streaming service later this year with the addition of an ad-supported tier. The company was light on details regarding its new plan but if we had to guess, the ad-supported tier probably won’t be free outright. Instead, it will likely be more affordable than the standard ad-free offering - perhaps in the $3.99 to $4.99 per month range.

As it stands today, access to Disney+ commands $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year when paid up front which works out to roughly $6.67 per month. There’s also the Disney Bundle, which consists of Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (the ad-supported tier) for $13.99 a month or $19.99 a month if you want Hulu without ads.

Rita Ferro, president of advertising at Disney, said advertisers have been clamoring for the opportunity to be part of Disney+. “Disney+ with advertising will offer marketers the most premium environment in streaming with our most beloved brands, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic,” the executive added.

Disney said it viewed the ad-supported offering as a building block on its path to achieving 230 million to 260 million Disney+ subscribers by FY24. If you recall, the company finished 2021 with 129.8 million Disney+ subscribers. To put that into perspective, industry leader Netflix ended last year with 222 million paying subscribers while Paramount+ went into 2022 with 32.8 million subscribers.

Speaking of Paramount+, there’s still time for new and returning subscribers to grab three months of Paramount+ at an 80 percent discount. That offer is set to expire on March 7, however, so you'll want to act fast if you want it.

Image credit Marques Kaspbrak

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93650-disney-get-ad-supported-tier-later-year.html

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Eventually all tiers will have ads, just a repeat of how cable tv played out imo.

 

[Aceseven]

Eventually all tiers will have ads, just a repeat of how cable tv played out imo.

You know it's coming

 

[m4a4]

Eventually all tiers will have ads, just a repeat of how cable tv played out imo.

If they do, I can see a lot of people (going back to) flying a certain flag lol

 

[kiwigraeme]

You know it's coming

Probably mainly to The USA- other countries less tolerant

 

[umbala]

Oh good, we get to pay for ads! Personally I will never watch an ad, EVER. All these companies (especially cable companies) who can't figure out how to provide a service without commercials can go f*ck themselves. My family is paying over $100/month for premium cable and literally one third of all their programming is commercials.

 

[umbala]

Eventually all tiers will have ads, just a repeat of how cable tv played out imo.

I'd love to see them try. If they ever tried to push ads on all tiers they'll basically lose half their subscribers in a hurry, or they will reverse course on the whole thing in less then 3 months.

 

[WhoCaresAnymore]

By doing this, it shows that Disney is has run out of the ability to support its streaming service, and the lack of new content. I've noticed diminished returns over the last 3 months. Marvel stopped with the mini-series flow, The Mandalorian won't be out until December. Boba Fett was an old man in a bathtub getting his *** kicked.

 

[ZedRM]

No thank you Disney. Move your content to other, existing platforms, such as Youtube, Netflix, etc.. A lot of people are NOT willing pay for dozens of similar services. They want one-stop solutions. I'm one of them.

 

[wiyosaya]

I have to wonder whether this indicates that Disney's subscriber growth is slowing given their limited content, and this is an attempt by Disney to milk the content for every penny they can get.

No thank you Disney. Move your content to other, existing platforms, such as Youtube, Netflix, etc.. A lot of people are NOT willing pay for dozens of similar services. They want one-stop solutions. I'm one of them.

This. I have to agree. I would much rather have their content back on Netflix. At most, what they have on Disney+ will only get me to subscribe for maybe two months a year. Realistically, I figure that I will be able to catch up on everything that I want to watch - The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, maybe Boba Fett, if I subscribe for a month, then drop it.

I know others won't feel this way, but right now, Netflix is the only streaming service that is worth my maintaining a monthly subscription.