Disney Sets Price Hikes For Ad-Free Tiers of Disney+ and Hulu, Plans Advertising Expansion Abroad

Alex Weprin
·3 min read
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Disney is expanding its advertising-supported Disney+ tier to new countries, and hiking prices in its ad-free tiers as it seeks to bring its direct-to-consumer business to profitability.

For starters, Disney will expand its ad-supported Disney+ tier to Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and other countries in Europe on Nov. 1. The new ad-supported plans start at £4.99/€5.99 per month in Europe, and $7.99/month in Canada.

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Disney+’s ad tier has proven to be lucrative, with the ad revenue more than offsetting the lower monthly price. Disney CEO Bob Iger said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday that the ad tier now has 3.3 million subscribers.

As with the U.S. launch, users in those countries will automatically remain the premium tier when the ad-supported version launches, but will have the option to switch to the new cheaper tier.

At the same time, Disney is also raising prices for its ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu, as well as ESPN+ and Hulu with Live TV. The monthly prices for its ad-supported tiers will remain unchanged. “Maintaining access to our content for as broad an audience as possible is top of mind for us,” Iger said, explaining why those prices will stay steady.

The ad-free tier of Disney+ will go from $10.99 per month to $13.99 per month (the annual plan will rise accordingly to $139.99), while Hulu’s ad-free tier will jump from $14.99 to $17.99. In connection those price hikes, Disney is also launching a new premium bundle of ad-free Disney+ and Hulu for $19.99 per month.

That bundle is notable because Disney will be combining Hulu and Disney+ content into a single app later this year, although the services will remain separate. The new bundle will be a centerpiece of that offering.

The company is also raising the price of ESPN+ from $9.99 per month to $10.99, with the annual plan rising to $109.99. And the company’s virtual MVPD service Hulu with Live TV will see its base plan rise from $69.99 per month to $76.99 per month (it’s plan with ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu will rise to $89.99 per month). The other major vMVPD, YouTube TV, also hiked its monthly price earlier this year to $73.

The price hikes will go into effect Oct. 12. The company last adjusted its prices a year ago, in connection with the pending launch of Disney+’s ad tier.

Iger also said that the company will begin to crack down on password sharing, following the successful efforts of Netflix.

“We’re actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” Iger said, adding that “we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.”

“The strong momentum of our ad-supported plans in the U.S. demonstrates the importance of providing consumers with choice, flexibility and value,” said Joe Earley, president of direct-to-consumer for Disney Entertainment. “We are excited to expand that offering in more markets across the globe, including in Europe and Canada, and to launch a new premium duo bundle of ad-free Disney+ and Hulu this Fall, as we take steps toward making extensive Hulu content available via Disney+ later this year for Bundle subscribers.”

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