By Natalie DeCoste
Streaming lovers were hit with more price increases as the cost of Disney+ rose last week.
The company increased the cost of its streaming service on April 23 by only one dollar, raising it from $6.99 to $7.99. Disney initially announced the price increase in December.
The increase will also impact the company’s special bundles, bringing the price of ESPN+ and Hulu up by a dollar from $12.99 to $13.99. The dollar increases may not seem like much, but for consumers who need to have every last streaming service, the price hikes can start adding up.
This is the first time the company has raised the prices for its streaming service since its launch in November 2019. Disney+ is still significantly cheaper than some of its competitors. Currently, Netflix is $13.99 per month for the standard plan, and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max is $14.99 per month.
The price increase comes as Disney is set to launch tons of new original content for its users. Some of the titles coming to the streaming service soon include “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” “Lando,” “Ahsoka,” “Loki,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Moon Knight,” “Hawkeye,” “She-Hulk,” “Sister Act 3,” “Zootopia+,” “Pinocchio,” “Hocus Pocus 2,” “Peter Pan & Wendy,” and “Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers.”
The price increase also comes close to a major milestone for the service, hitting 100 million subscribers. In March of 2021, Disney announced that the service had achieved 100 million global paid subscribers in just 16 months since its launch.
“The enormous success of Disney+ —which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers—has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” said Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “In fact, we set a target of 100+ new titles per year.”
Achieving that milestone in such a short period is a testament to Disney’s strength as a company and its pricing strategy. According to Andrew Hare, a senior vice president of research at media firm Magid, the initial price at which Disney set the streaming service allowed it to bring in a massive amount of customers and become a top competitor in the streaming market.
