Disney has announced that it will raise the fees for its advertisement-free Disney+ and Hulu streaming services starting on October 12, as stated during a recent earnings call. Under the new pricing structure, the ad-free Disney+ subscription will be available for $13.99 per month, while the ad-free Hulu subscription will be priced at $17.99 per month.
Currently, the ad-free Disney+ plan is priced at $10.99 per month, while the ad-free Hulu plan costs $14.99 per month. This represents a significant increase from the original $6.99 per month price for ad-free access when Disney+ was first launched three years ago.
The company will also offer customers more options and is preparing to introduce a bundle that combines ad-free access to Hulu and Disney+ for $19.99 per month, a discounted rate compared to subscribing to them separately. This matches the ongoing price of the combined Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle, which is set to be raised to $24.99 per month. While the Hulu and Disney+ bundle is not currently available, it is expected to be launched around the same time as the planned price adjustment in October.
The pricing for Disney's ad-supported plans will remain unchanged. Ad-supported Disney+ will continue to cost $7.99 per month, the same as Hulu's ad-supported plan. The bundled ad-supported option will be priced at $9.99 per month.
Disney has also revealed its intention to curtail password sharing, aligning with actions taken by Netflix. Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, stated that the company will implement strategies to discourage password sharing, beginning in 2024.
These pricing adjustments and the measures against password sharing follow Disney's streaming division reporting a loss of $512 million during the third fiscal quarter of 2023. This represents an improvement from the $1.1 billion loss recorded in the same quarter of the previous year. Notably, Disney has amassed more than 105 million Disney+ subscribers, with an addition of 800,000 subscribers during the most recent quarter.
