BREAKING: Disney+ to Up Prices, Add an Ad-based Tier, & Remove Content
In the 2nd Quarter Earnings Report call today, Disney reported that Disney+ will increase prices, add an ad-based tier, and remove content from the streaming service.
Disney launched an ad-based tier of their service in 2022 and offers several options for consumers to choose if they want Disney+ only or the Duo (Disney+ Hulu) or the Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN streaming). US-based customers can expect to pay $7.99/month for Disney+ with Ads, or without for $10.99.
Photo: Walt Disney Company
Christine McCarthy reported that there’s been a lot of success with advertising and a net increase of 600,000 subscribers. Advertisers like using Disney+ and users experience a lighter load of ads compared to Hulu.
Ad-based tiers will arrive in Europe before the end of the calendar year.
Christine McCarthy mentioned at least twice that Disney is evaluating all of its content on Disney+ and removing some of it.
From a user standpoint, that means you’ll likely not be able to watch some movies or shows for some unknown amounts of time. This harkens back to the days of not being able to buy new VHS tapes or DVDs of certain movies in the stores.
I remember the days of waiting for movies to come “out of the Disney Vault” so I could add them to my growing DVD collection. Then, Disney would release the ___ Anniversary edition of a movie to add to the marketing power of releasing an older movie.
Are we about to see more of this? It’s ironic that McCarthy would mention both price increases and content decreases in the same breath, but not unlike her. This is the same woman that said smaller salads would be good for guest waistlines when there were complaints about portion size decreases (without a comparable price decrease of course).
Disney CFO Christine McCarthy on Inflation Impacts
With prices increasing, ad-based tiers, and removing content, make sure you stay tuned to MickeyBlog for even more updates as we sift through the Q2 earnings report.
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