The price increases will continue until morale — or the bottom line — improves. The three streaming services that fall under the Disney umbrella — that’s Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu — are once again the subject of price increases. It’s far from the first time, and very likely won’t be the last.
Here’s how everything shakes out this time around:
- Disney+ with ads is going from $8 a month to $10 a month. Without ads, it’ll go from $14 a month to $16 a month. And the annual subscription (which saves a few dollars because you’re paying everything up front) goes from $140 to $160.
- Hulu with ads is going from $8 a month or $80 a year to $10 a month or $100 a year. Hulu’s ad-free plan is going from $18 a month to $19 a month.
- Hulu With Live TV will now cost $83 a month if you don’t mind ads on the on-demand content, or $96 if you want to get rid of most advertising. That’s up from $82 and $90, respectively.
- ESPN+ is going from $11 a month or $110 a year to $12 a month or $120 a year.
- The Disney Bundle Duo Basic (which gets you all three services with ads) is going from $10 a month to $11 a month. the Duo Premium bundle stays the same at $20 a month.
The new prices go into effect starting October 17.
While Disney’s trio of streaming services has mostly continued to grow, it’s struggled until relatively recently to turn them into profitable endeavors.
“We’ve said all along our path to profitability will not be linear,” CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call in May. “And while we are anticipating a softer third quarter, due in large part to the seasonality of our India sports offerings, we fully expect streaming to be a growth driver for the company in the future and we have prioritized the steps necessary to achieve this.”
Those steps, once again, include charging more.
Disney reports its fiscal third-quarter earnings on August 7.
