The world of Disney is about to get a bit less wonderful for cost-conscious streaming subscribers.
Ad-free Disney+ will cost $13.99 per month (up from $10.99) as of October 12, when commercial-free Hulu jumps from $14.99/month to $17.99/month. (Yes, Hulu is now pricier than the standard Netflix plan.) Their ad-supported tiers remain the same: $7.99/month apiece of $9.99 for the duo bundle.
That same day, Hulu + Live TV will also get more expensive — with and without ads. Each plan is increasing by $7 per month; with ads will be $76.99, without will be $89.99.
On September 6, however, Disney will launch an ad-free bundle of Disney+ and Hulu for $19.99/month. Stick with IndieWire for all of your steals and deals.
The ESPN+ price is going up from $9.99/month to $10.99.
If you’re feeling some déjà vu, yes, Disney just raised the prices of its streaming services. On December 8, 2022, Disney+ increased from $7.99/month to $10.99. Hulu raised its price in October. The last ESPN+ price hike happened a year ago in August 2022.
In related news, ad-supported Disney+ will roll out November 1 in Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The following month, the ad-free version of Disney’s core streaming service will see prices increase.
While some of these price hikes are significant (especially considering it marks the second time inside of 12 months for U.S. consumers), Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger pretty much told us this was happening. It’s also on trend for what we’ve seen from the streaming industry as a whole thus far in 2023.
Disney reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings, including an update on streaming subscribers, on Wednesday.
More to come…