Disney is increasing the prices for ad-free subscriptions for both Disney+ and Hulu it announced on Wednesday. The price increases, however, will not impact the ad-supported subscriptions.
Starting on October 12th, a commercial-free subscription of Disney+ will cost $13.99 per month. This is a 27% increase. Disney+ subscriptions with ads will remain at its current price of $7.99 per month. Disney is also going to be expanding where the ad-tier version of Disney+ is offered. Starting on November 1st, the ad-tiered level of the streamer will be available in Canada and select markets in Europe.
Hulu without ads is also seeing a price increase as well. Starting on October 12th, Disney will be raising the monthly price of Hulu without ads to $17.99 per month. This is a 20% price hike. For those who have the Hulu subscription with ads, the price will remain at $7.99 per month as well.
The new pricing structure for the ad-free subscriptions of Disney+ and Hulu put the two streamers closer in line with its competitors. Netflix has two ad-free options at $15.49 and $17.99 per month for its Standard and Premium offers. Ad-free subscriptions from Max begin at $15.99 per month. Disney believes that its library can offer value for the new pricing structure and able to compete with other streaming platforms.
When Iger returned to the helm of Disney, Disney+ had only one subscription and it had no ads. It was offered at $6.99 per month. Last year, Disney raised the price on Disney+ by $3 per month and didn’t see significant cancellations of Disney+ subscriptions.
“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,” said Iger during Disney’s earnings call this week.
Moving forward, Disney is looking to encourage more subscribers to join with an ad-tier subscription as Disney works to make its direct to consumer businesses profitable. This will help build stronger advertising revenue for the company as advertising revenue softens on linear television.
Iger shared during the earnings call that Disney+ with ads saw 3.3 million new subscribers since it debuted last December. Iger also said that 40% of all new Disney+ subscribers are joining with the ad-subscription option of the service.
What do you think of the subscription price increase for Disney+ and Hulu? Do you have an ad-supported subscription or an ad-free one? Which one will you have moving forward? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
