Disney Plus will raise its monthly subscription price in the US by $1 to $8 per month on Friday, with an annual subscription price increase of $10 to $80 per year.
Disney Plus is going to Increase
In the United States, Disney’s subsidized bundle of Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus will also increase by$1: those with the older bundle that includes ad-supported Hulu will pay $14 per month, while those with the newer bundle that includes ad-free Hulu will pay $20 per month.
Current customers will see the price hikes in their first bill on or after Friday, as announced in December. They are for all Disney Plus users worldwide, not just in the United States. Other countries’ rises are nearly on par with those in the United States, albeit in local currencies. In continental Europe, for example, prices are rising by two to nine euros per month.
Why is the Disney Plus Prices Increasing?
When the company revealed the proposal in December, Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said, “These price increases represent an improvement in the underlying value of the Disney Plus product offering.”
This is the first time Disney Plus has seen a price increase, but with more content coming to the streaming service in the coming months and years, it’s not shocking. Both Black Widow and Cruella will be released on Disney Plus as $30 Premiere Access titles alongside their theatrical releases, Disney revealed yesterday.
Netflix’s most common package, by contrast, costs $14 a month after the streaming giant increased its prices earlier this year. Netflix’s cheapest tier is $9 per month, while its premium package costs $18 per month and includes features including 4K resolution, HDR picture quality, and the ability to watch on four devices at once (all of which are included in Disney Plus).
The pricing flexibility comes as Disney Plus has emerged as the breakout success of the so-called streaming wars, an era in which seemingly every major media corporation (and several tech companies) launched their streaming services to compete with Netflix over the last year and a half.
Disney Plus has surpassed all new entrants, including Apple, HBO, NBCUniversal, Discovery, ViacomCBS, and others, with over 100 million subscribers. Disney Plus was dubbed “one of the best product releases of all time” by one media critic.
So, if you haven’t already signed up for Disney Plus and want to lock in a $10 discount on an annual membership, today is the day to do so. (Annual plans are not available with the Disney Plus/Hulu/ESPN Plus bundle.) If you sign up for a month-to-month membership to Disney Plus or the package today, you’ll save a buck for one month, but the increased rates will apply after that.
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