Disney has announced that it will raise the price of ad-free Disney+ from $11 to $14/month this October in the US. The company will start to crack down on password sharing next year.
Disney+ lost approximately 11.7 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2023. 12.5 million were lost in India (Disney+ Hotstar) due to the loss of rights to stream cricket matches, meaning that Disney+ grew in some other regions.
During its earnings call, Disney announced that it will raise the price of the ad-free Disney+ plan from $11 to $14/month starting October 12. The ad-supported Disney+ plan will not increase in price.
Disney added that it will also increase price of Disney+ in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark in December but it did not say by how much. Update: Two new Standard plans without 4K, Premium get more expensive. Details here.
The ad-free Hulu plan will increase from $15 to $18/month.
Disney will on September 6 launch an ad-free bundle that includes Disney+ and Hulu for $20/month.
Source: Disney
Password sharing crackdown
Much like Netflix, Disney will soon start fighting password sharing, a practice that Disney CEO Bob Iger referred to as "significant".
- "(We'll) roll out tactics sometime in 2024," said the Disney CEO.
What tactics Disney will employ remains to be seen.
After the loss of 11.7 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2023, Disney+ now has a total of 146.1 million subscribers including Disney+ Hotstar in India. Hulu has 48.3 million and ESPN+ 25.2 million. For comparison, Netflix – the leading streaming service – has a total of 238.4 million subscribers.
