Disney might be trying to put the Jimmy Kimmel Live fiasco to bed by bringing the show back on Tuesday night (good luck with that). But the company isn’t exactly putting itself back in customers’ good graces. Once again, it’s hiking the prices of Disney+ subscriptions in the US.
Several standalone plans and bundles are getting price increases. The changes come into effect on October 21.
After that date, subscribers will be paying $2 extra for the standard Disney+ plan (the one with ads) at $12 per month. The ad-free Disney+ Premium option will soon cost $19 per month, an increase of $3. For those playing along at home, that means the monthly ad-free Disney+ plan will have nearly tripled in price in the six years that the service has been around.
Bundle price increases are as follows:
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Disney+ and Hulu with ads: currently $11 per month, going up by $2 to $13
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Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Select with ads: currently $17 per month, going up by $3 to $20
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Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Select Premium (ad-free): currently $27 per month, going up by $3 to $30
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Disney+ Premium (ad-free), Hulu and ESPN Select (both with ads): currently $22 per month, going up by $3 to $25 — note that this is a legacy plan for existing subscribers, and it’s not possible to switch to it
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Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max Basic with ads: currently $17 per month, going up by $3 to $20
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Disney+ Premium, Hulu Premium and HBO Max (No Ads): currently $30 per month, going up by $3 to $33
Ad-free Hulu Premium ($19 per month) and the ad-free Disney+ and Hulu Premium bundle ($20 per month) are not changing in price for now. The Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited bundles are remaining the same too, at $36 with ads on all three services and $45 with ad-free Disney+ Premium and Hulu Premium. The company will combine Disney+ and Hulu into the same app next year, but there will still be standalone plans for each service.
Disney is following Apple and Peacock in raising prices of their streaming services over the last couple of months. But the timing of the Disney+ increase is an especially ill-judged one.
The announcement comes amid many subscribers canceling their plans in protest against Disney’s decision to temporarily remove Jimmy Kimmel from its airwaves. A price hike isn’t exactly likely to entice them to sign back up as Kimmel’s show returns to ABC.
