Disney Plus Set to Roll Out Price Bump Friday

By Daniel Frankel
( NextTV )
published

A look at the new pricing model for standalone and bundled tiers

Disney Plus
(Image credit: Disney Plus)

Announced by Disney back in early December at its big investor day presentation, Disney Plus’ first price hike arrives Friday, March 26.

The standalone subscription Disney Plus service will increases in price from $6.99 to $7.99 a month in the U.S.. The year-long commitment price will go to $79.99 from $69.99. And the price of a bundle that includes Disney Plus, basic Hulu and ESPN Plus will rise $1 to $13.99.

At its 2019 Direct-to-Consumer investor day, Disney said it expected content spending to grow from $2 billion in 2020 to $4 billion in 2024. Now, the company expects content spending for Disney Plus to spike to between $8 billion to $9 billion over the next three years.

Two weeks ago, Disney announced that Disney Plus had exceeded 100 million subscribers worldwide in just 16 months on the market. 

But the service’s low price point is gaining notice by competitors. For example, at his parent company’s investor day event two weeks ago, WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar made a point of reassuring investors that it’s HBO Max that’s actually second to Netflix among major subscription streaming services in terms of revenue generation. 

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!