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.
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