“The Mandalorian”
Disney Plus
Disney+ and Hulu are getting price hikes in the coming months.
An ad-supported Disney+ plan launches in December for the same price as the current ad-free plan.
Both Hulu with ads and without ads will cost more starting in October.
Disney+ subscribers will soon be paying more — unless they’re willing to switch to a new tier with ads.
Disney announced on Wednesday that Disney+’s ad-supported plan, called Disney+ Basis, will launch on December 8, and will cost the same amount that the current ad-free version costs per month. That means the ad-free plan, which it’s calling Disney+ Premium, will get a $3 price hike at that time.
Hulu, which Disney also operates, will also cost more starting October 10.
Here’s how much each plan will cost per month:
Disney+ Premium (no ads) — $10.99 (from $7.99)Disney+ Basic (with ads) — $7.99 Hulu without ads — $14.99 (from $12.99)Hulu with ads — $7.99 (from $6.99)
Here’s how the Disney bundle will break down in price per month:
Basic (with ads): Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+: $12.99 per monthLegacy (existing subscribers): Disney+ (without ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $14.99Premium: Disney+ (without ads), Hulu (without ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $19.99
Disney said in its earnings report on Wednesday that Disney+ added 14.4 million subscribers in the fiscal third quarter, bringing the total Disney+ subscribers to 152 million. Disney’s total streaming subscribers across all of its platforms (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) is now at 221 million, rivaling Netflix’s latest subscriber numbers of just over 220 million.
But Disney did lower its 2024 forecast for Disney+ during its earnings call. Disney had previously forecasted gaining 230 million to 260 million subscribers for Disney+ by 2024, but is now projecting 215 million to 245 million.
The company’s stock was up 6% in after-hours trading.