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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Streaming service Disney+ has announced a price increase.
- Almost all plans are affected, including bundle options.
- The company has raised its prices every October for three years.
If you’re a Disney+ subscriber, you’ll be paying more soon, as another price increase is on the way.
Almost every tier for the streaming service is set to have a higher price next month, including the various bundle options with ESPN, HBO Max, and Hulu.
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Journalist Marisa Kabas, who routinely scoops big-time stories, first scooped the news yesterday, but an official document from Disney confirmed her details today. “Part of the reason Disney/ABC may have rushed to sort things out with Kimmel,” she explained in a post, “is because tomorrow [now today] they have a planned price increase for Disney+ streaming, a Disney source tells me.”
She added that subscriptions are “hemorrhaging” after last week’s late-night debacle. The streaming service is in a uniquely bad spot right now, with some users canceling over Kimmel’s allegedly insensitive remarks and others canceling over the company’s decision to temporarily suspend Kimmel for those comments, so it’s a surprising time for a price hike.
How much is a Disney+ subscription increasing?
According to the recently updated support document, here’s how much more you’ll be paying a month. All prices are set to increase on Oct. 21.
- Disney+ with ads: Increasing from $9.99 to $11.99
- Disney+ with no ads: Increasing from $15.99 to $18.99
- Disney+ with no ads annual plan: Increasing $159.99 a year to $189.99 a year
- Disney+, Hulu bundle with ads: Increasing from $10.99 to $12.99
- Disney+, Hulu bundle with no ads: Staying at $19.99
- Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle with ads: Increasing from $16.99 to $19.99
- Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle with no ads: Increasing from $26.99 to $29.99
- Disney+ Premium, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Legacy: Increasing from $21.99 to $24.99
- Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle with ads: Staying at $35.99
- Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle Premium with no ads: Staying at $44.99
- Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max Bundle with ads: Increasing from $16.99 to $19.99
- Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max Bundle with no ads: Increasing from $29.99 to $32.99
The extra member add-on, Disney’s fix for password sharing, appears to be staying the same at $6.99 a month.
When Disney+ debuted in 2019, it was one of the better values in streaming with a price of $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year ad-free. The last price increase for the streaming service came on Oct. 17 of last year, when its ad-supported tier rose by $2 to $9.99 and its ad-free tier jumped $2 to $15.99.
The company also increased its ad-free pricing in October of 2023, so this does seem to be its standard time to announce this sort of thing.