Tag: disney
The best Disney movies on Disney+ (August 2022)
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Disney (DIS): A look at the major winning points for its streaming business
Shares of the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) have been rallying since the entertainment leader delivered strong results for its third quarter of 2022 a day ago. The stock was […]
The post Disney (DIS): A look at the major winning points for its streaming business first appeared on AlphaStreet.
Disney+ with ads launches December 8; Hulu raises prices
The New Disney+ Ad Supported Tier is Disappointingly Expensive
Later this year, Disney+ will increase its price from $7.99 a month to $10.99 a month. The change comes as Disney+ introduces its ad-supported membership, which comes with a frustrating monthly fee—a familiar $7.99 per month. Oh, and Hulu is also getting a price hike, because why not?
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Disney+ ad-free streaming price increases to $11 per month in December
Disney+ isn’t done raising prices. As part of its third quarter earnings report, Disney revealed that it’s hiking the price of the ad-free service in the US to $11 per month, $3 more than today, on December 8th. If you want to keep the same price, you’ll have to subscribe to the ad-supported tier launching the same day. In other words, the ad-backed plan won’t really be cheaper — you’ll just have to pay more to keep the uninterrupted experience you already have.
The media giant also said it would raise the price of ad-free Hulu by $2 to $15 per month on October 10th. If you can accept ads, you’ll also pay $8 per month instead of today’s $7. A $10 monthly outlay provides both Disney+ and Hulu with ads. A bundle offering ad-free Disney+, ad-supported ESPN+ and its Hulu counterpart is climbing by a dollar to $15 per month, but you’ll dip to $13 per month if you’re willing to tolerate commercials across all three. You’ll have to pay $20 per month to get the trio without any sales pitches.
Disney wasn’t shy about the reason for the price hikes. Although it added 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers during the quarter (for a total of 221 million across all services), the operating losses for its streaming-oriented division surged from $293 million a year ago to nearly $1.1 billion. The production costs for Disney+ and Hulu are soaring, and Disney wants to make that money back.
The performance contrasts sharply with a key rival. While Netflix is prepping its own ad-driven plan, it’s currently losing customers — it’s counting on advertising to return growth where Disney is simply hoping to make a profit. As rough as its finances might be, Disney+ is in a stronger position.
Disney+ is getting ads and charging more if you want to get rid of them
Nothing good can last forever.
Since its launch in 2019, Disney+ has been one of the most solid streaming services around, with a huge selection of shows and movies that includes Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe content, and even all of The Simpsons. And it did so at the incredibly fair price of $7.99/mo. However, on Wednesday, Disney announced that anyone who wants to keep paying so little for the service will now have to deal with ads.
In a press release, Disney outlined the new service tiers that will be available for its various streaming services: Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. The price hike for Disney+ goes into effect on Dec. 8, while Hulu’s will happen on Oct. 10 and ESPN’s on Aug. 23.
Here’s how those changes shake out:
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Disney+ with ads: $7.99/mo; no annual plan
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Disney+ without ads: $10.99/mo; $109.99/year
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Hulu with ads: $7.99/mo; $79.99/year
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Hulu without ads: $14.99/mo; no annual plan
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ESPN+: $9.99/mo; $99.99/year
In other words, the ad-free version of Disney+ that everyone’s gotten used to will cost $3 more per month than before, and the same goes for ESPN+. Hulu’s monthly cost is also rising by $1 for the ad-supported tier and $2 for the premium version. In case you thought you could find peace with the existing $12.99/mo package that bundles all three without ads on Disney+, think again. Disney announced new price hikes for bundles, too:
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Disney+ and Hulu with ads: $9.99/mo
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Disney+ with ads, Hulu with ads, and ESPN+: $12.99/mo
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Disney+ and Hulu with no ads, and ESPN+: $19.99/mo
The only reprieve here for current subscribers of the ad-free Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle is that they’ll get the highest tier for $14.99/mo. Disney is throwing them a bone by only raising the price by $2/mo.
(Sidenote: I just recently canceled that plan, so if I want to go back, I’ll have to pay $5 extra per month. Poor timing!)
If you’re wondering why Disney would do this, well, it’s because it can. Disney recently reported that it added 14.4 million new subscribers in the last fiscal quarter, adding up to 221 million total across the three streaming services. That’s about a million more than Netflix, which is losing subscribers. While other streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max appear to be suffering, Disney+ is thriving, and Disney will extract as much money as it can while the getting is good.
I just can’t believe this happened so soon after I canceled. Life feels like a joke sometimes.
Disney Plus and Hulu are getting steep price hikes
Disney has announced that it’s raising the price of Disney Plus to $10.99 / month, up from its current price of $7.99 / month, starting December 8th in the US. The move comes as the company is looking to restructure its pricing options, which will soon include a $7.99 / month ad-supported tier.
Disney’s also raising the price of its Hulu subscription. The ad-free tier will jump from $12.99 / month to $14.99, while the ad-supported version will cost $7.99 / month, up from $6.99. The new pricing goes into effect on October 10th. A price hike for unbundled ESPN Plus streaming was announced in July, taking the monthly price from $6.99 to $9.99 / month.
Disney Plus’ ad-supported plan will launch in December
Disney’s ad-supported tier of Disney Plus will cost $7.99 per month — the current cost of the ad-free plan — and will be available beginning December 8th, the company announced on Wednesday. That same day, there will be a price hike for the ad-free plan, which will cost $10.99 per month.
The ad-supported plan doesn’t come as a surprise; Disney had said earlier this year that the plan would be arriving in late 2022. Netflix is also planning to launch its own ad-supported tier, though the company isn’t expecting to launch it until early 2023. When Netflix’s tier is available, it won’t have everything at launch. We don’t know yet if there will be similar restrictions if you opt for Disney Plus’ ad tier.
When the ad tier launches, it will…