Disney+ Usage Continues to Rise, So Prices are Going Up Too

Flush with success, Disney+ will be raising its monthly and annual subscription prices in 2021 along with the prices of its ESPN+ and Hulu bundles.

The monthly price of Disney+ will rise from $6.99 now to $7.99 beginning in March 2021, the firm said during a virtual investors meeting.

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“These price increases reflect an increase in the underlying value of the Disney Plus product offering,” Disney chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said.

Disney now says that it had 86.8 million subscribers by December 2, 38.8 million Hulu subscribers, and 11.5 million ESPN+ subscribers. (The cost of a bundle of all three services will go up $1 as well to $12.99 per month as of March 2021.) Disney originally expected to have 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024.

“Disney+ has exceeded our expectations,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said.

Disney is also dramatically expanded the amount of content it will provide to subscribers. It has plans for 10 series based on the Marvel universe, 10 Star Wars series, and 15 Pixar-based series, in the coming years, plus 15 Disney and Pixar feature-length films.

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Conversation 9 comments

  • will

    Premium Member
    11 December, 2020 - 10:53 am

    <p>For now I feel good having locked in the lower three year price last year. So have two more years and it is now starting to grow content. </p>

    • leoaw

      Premium Member
      12 December, 2020 - 2:51 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#599264">In reply to will:</a></em></blockquote><p>I did the same. I forget how much it broke down per month (something like $4.99) and there were some lean months, but being able to share the account with multiple other people who watched more of the content than I did does make it worthwhile. In two years when it comes time to renew, I'll see what the price is and if there are better options from cell providers or combining with Hulu that will still keep it a bargain.</p>

  • SvenJ

    11 December, 2020 - 11:20 am

    <p>Hey look, people like it. We can charge them more.</p>

    • red.radar

      Premium Member
      13 December, 2020 - 10:13 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#599269">In reply to SvenJ:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yes. But any reasonable person going in knew that was going to happen. And Disney is the master at getting you to feel like your getting a good value out of spending a lot of money with them. The content expansion for a single extra dollar a month is worth it in my opinion. </p>

  • datameister

    11 December, 2020 - 6:31 pm

    <p>I thought the Falcon and Winter Soldier was due to come out mid 2020, based on they way they talked about things before Disney+ launched. Yet here we are with a second season of The Mandalorian. I wonder what happened with all that?</p>

    • Cardch

      14 December, 2020 - 3:23 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#599361">In reply to DataMeister:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote><br></blockquote><blockquote><em>Erm, there has been this disease thing, it’s been on the news a bit :-)</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

  • christianwilson

    Premium Member
    13 December, 2020 - 7:58 pm

    <p>I'm not going to complain. Aside from YouTube, it is by far the most used video streaming service in our house. We love it. This price increase comes along with an announcement of more content which is great news. </p>

  • ghostrider

    15 December, 2020 - 2:56 am

    <p>Classic manoeuvre. Enter the crowded market with a lower than expected sub price and get as many on board as quickly as possible (give it away for 12 months if you have to), and get the app <em>everywhere</em>. Once you've got them paying, start talking up new content, then slowly increase the price. The new content will make people think they're getting more for their money, so are more likely to stay. Increase the price slowly though, so they don't really notice – what's another $? Finally, slowly start pulling your content from competitor's streaming services, so customers can only get it in one place.</p><p><br></p><p>Disney haven't really done anything unusual here, but there initial content lineup was weak (and still is relatively), but they're a big brand and bought some big studio franchises. Give it 2-3 years, and they'll be $10pm, and it'll only go up from there.</p>

  • illuminated

    15 December, 2020 - 11:59 am

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Prices are slowly rising everywhere. </span>I may have to start turning online streaming services off and on. </p><p><br></p>

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