Price Hikes For Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+

[GrandAdmiral]

My personal take: they are trying to nudge people into bundling. Because you can "save" by bundling al 3 services for like $15-$20/mo

Disney+ Ad Plan Price and Launch Date Set, Along With Fee Hikes for Disney+ Premium and Hulu

The Disney+ ad-supported tier will launch Dec. 8, when the price of Disney+ with no ads will go up. Hulu prices are also increasing.

variety.com

“With our new ad-supported Disney+ offering and an expanded lineup of plans across our entire streaming portfolio, we will be providing greater consumer choice at a variety of price points to cater to the diverse needs of our viewers and appeal to an even broader audience,” Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement.


(The link above has a breakdown of all the price options as single subscriptions or bundled, but here are a few)

Starting December 8th: Disney+ with ads will cost $7.99 a month (the same price that Disney+ currently costs, without ads).
The "premium", ad-free version of Disney+ will cost $10.99 a month.

October 10th: hulu ad-supported tier, which currently costs $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year, will increase to $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year. The ad-free tier, currently $12.99 a month, will be bumped up to $14.99 a month without an option for a yearly subscription.

August 23rd: ESPN+ will increase in price from $6.99 a month and $69.99 a year to $9.99 a month and $99.99 a year.

Some are thinking they are trying to nudge folks to the ad-supported platform because they can make more money there.

 

[GW93]

I can’t agree with these “it’s the same we were paying for cable” takes. Even when I had cable, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, etc were all still extra (the services that primarily coexisted with the “height” of cable). I currently pay $70/year for AppleTV+, $5/month to upgrade my Hulu to ad free, $22/month for Netflix (the absolute worst value service imo). Disney/Hulu are included with my Verizon plan (though for the sake of argument, let’s say I’m spending $10/month more for that), and I only have HBO because I caught a 1 year for $100 deal.

That comes out to $51/month - my cable was never that low. And that’s including Netflix and HBO that would have cost me more anyway. Take those out and it’s even lower.

If you‘re one of those people who has to have every. single. service. Then yea, it’s probably more. And you should probably just have cable If you have to have that much content.

How much are you paying for the broadband internet that's necessary in order to stream those services?

 

[TheRealJRad]

How much are you paying for the broadband internet that's necessary in order to stream those services?

The same that I'd be paying if I didn't have those services

 

[DaveXA]

The same that I'd be paying if I didn't have those services

Actually, not necessarily depending on the company and packages. Some offer a real discount by bundling, so it wouldn't be the same in some cases. Typically companies will reduce the price of the bundled TV package, but I have seen lower prices for the internet side of it before. Mine would be $80 without the bundle and is $60 with.

 

[Sailorsaint]

Actually, not necessarily depending on the company and packages. Some offer a real discount by bundling, so it wouldn't be the same in some cases. Typically companies will reduce the price of the bundled TV package, but I have seen lower prices for the internet side of it before. Mine would be $80 without the bundle and is $60 with.

I pay a straight $50 a month for ATT Fixed Wireless. It comes with 350 GB of data that I usually used about 90% of and enough speed to stream 4K on two tv's at the same time. I have quite a few streaming services like D+/Hulu, P+, Peacock, and Prime. I used to have YTTV, but let it go as it was climbing in price to Dish/Directv prices. To be honest, I spend most of my viewing on regular YT, which is free. I'm willing to pay the prices of the streaming services because I get content that isn't available on any cable/satelite platform. Plus, there are a number of free movie streamers out there like FreeVee, Pluto, etc.

 

[TheRealJRad]

Actually, not necessarily depending on the company and packages. Some offer a real discount by bundling, so it wouldn't be the same in some cases. Typically companies will reduce the price of the bundled TV package, but I have seen lower prices for the internet side of it before. Mine would be $80 without the bundle and is $60 with.

I checked out of curiosity, it'd be the same. Rev's cheapest TV is $54/month, so I'd actually be about even and would have less content I actually cared about.

 

[Zztop]

After the success that netflix had (by adding millions of new paid subscribers after their password crackdown) all these other companies were bound to follow suit

Disney+ Will Expand Its Crackdown on Password-Sharing in June - Here is Everything You Need to Know | Cord Cutters News

Disney+ last year announced plans to and quickly started to test the crackdown in June. Now, Bob Iger has announced that it will expand the crackdown to new areas and bring it to more countries this fall in a interview with CNBC. Here is everything we know about Disney’s plans to stop password...

cordcuttersnews.com

We will also (probably) see a greater push to 'bundle' that line about "for only x$ more you can have access to this other stuff! a great value!" (streaming is starting to remind me a lot like cable)

Coming soon to a disney+ bundle near you:

Disney's New ESPN Stand-Alone Streaming Service Is Coming to Disney+ as A Bundled Live TV Service | Cord Cutters News

Back in May of 2023, we learned that Disney was in the process of building a streaming service to offer ESPN as a stand-alone streaming service. This would allow sports fans to subscribe to ESPN without cable TV or a live TV streaming service. Giving cord cutters a way to watch ESPN networks for...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[Zztop]

Y'all ready for the annual price hike? Underlying this price hike, is the ever-increasing pressure big D is trying to exert on customers, into funneling them more towards bundling "the more you buy, the more you save" philosophy (hey, just like cable used to do! or still does)

“So tired”: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ prices increase by up to 25 percent in October

Not even ad tiers are safe as Disney looks to coax people into bundle packages.

arstechnica.com

 

[GW93]

Y'all ready for the annual price hike? Underlying this price hike, is the ever-increasing pressure big D is trying to exert on customers, into funneling them more towards bundling "the more you buy, the more you save" philosophy (hey, just like cable used to do! or still does)

“So tired”: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ prices increase by up to 25 percent in October

Not even ad tiers are safe as Disney looks to coax people into bundle packages.

arstechnica.com

I already bundle Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, but I do it through my Verizon account. I wonder how Verizon will pass this on to me.

 

[TheRealJRad]

I already bundle Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, but I do it through my Verizon account. I wonder how Verizon will pass this on to me.

Last hike I think I read we're safe due to the contract VZW and Disney have.

I hope that continues to be the case, I don't think VZW even offers the bundle for free anymore on new accounts.

 

[Zztop]

On September 23, Disney will close all of its “TV Everywhere”-style apps, including DisneyNOW, Freeform, FXNOW, ABC, and National Geographic.

Each app’s content will still be accessible via the webpage. However, Disney+ will become the defacto streaming app