Disney plans to raise the price of its ad-free streaming services starting Oct. 12, the company said today during an earnings call (via CNBC). The ad-free Disney+ plan will be priced at $13.99 per month, while the ad-free Hulu plan will be priced at $17.99 per month.
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Currently, Disney+ without ads costs $10.99 per month, while Hulu without ads costs $14.99 per month. When the platform launched three years ago, the company charged $6.99, so the price for ad-free access has more than doubled.
The company plans to offer an ad-free bundle that includes both platforms for $19.99 per month, which is a $12 discount from the separate pricing. That happens to be the current price of the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN, which will increase to $24.99 per month. The two-platform bundle isn't available yet, but it'll likely launch in October, when the price increase goes into effect.
The price of Disney's ad-supported plans will not change. Disney+ with ads will continue to cost $7.99 per month, the same price as Hulu's ad-supported plan. The ad-supported plan will be $9.99 per month.
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In addition to raising the cost of streaming packages, the company also plans to stop sharing passwords, following in the footsteps of Netflix. Disney CEO Bob Iger said it will “develop tactics” to end password sharing by 2024.
The price hikes and crackdown on password sharing come after the company's streaming division reported a loss of $512 million in the third fiscal quarter of 2023, which is better than the $1.1 billion loss in the previous quarter. Disney has more than 105 million subscribers on its platform, adding 800,000 during the quarter.
Read also: Disney+: Lost 4 million subscribers
source of information: macrumors.com
