Another Disney+ Price Increase Is Happening
Ad-free subscriptions for Disney+ and Hulu are about to see some significant price hikes this year.
Disney is set to introduce yet another price hike for all of its streaming services. During Disney's quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Bob Iger announced a major streaming price hike set for October 12th, affecting both Disney+ and Hulu's ad-free options. The ad-free Disney+ option, which was just $7.99 not too long ago, will see its second price hike on October 12th, taking the monthly subscription to $13.99. That's up $3 from its current price.
Hulu's ad-free tier will also be going up by $3 each month, moving from $14.99 to $17.99. This new price hike will see Hulu and Disney+ cost a total of $32 each month if you subscribe separately, but Disney is going all-in on the bundle option by offering a steep discount. If you bundle just Hulu and Disney+ together, starting September 6th, it will cost $19.99 per month.
That package, which will likely become one of Disney's most popular streaming options, is called the Duo Premium. There's also a Duo Basic package that combines ad-supported Hulu and Disney+, which costs just $9.99 per month. Adding the ad-free ESPN+ takes your total to $24.99.
"Our pricing strategy this year alone, we've raised prices in nearly 50 countries around the world to better reflect the value of our product offerings and the impact on churn and retention has outperformed our expectations," Iger said during Wednesday's call. "Later today, we will release details regarding upcoming streaming price increases ... Maintaining access to our content for as broad an audience as possible is top of mind for us. Which is why pricing for our standalone ad supported Disney plus and Hulu offerings will remain unchanged."
Disney+ Cracking Down on Password Sharing
Netflix made big headlines over the past year by cracking down on users sharing accounts, trying to ensure that every household has its own subscription. Disney+ is starting down a similar path.
During Wednesday's call, Iger announced that the company will be looking into account sharing this year, with efforts to cut down on the practice beginning next year.
"We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing, and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family," Iger said during the call. "Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms and our sharing policies, and we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024."