Disney Plus increases prices

Disney presented its business figures and also gave details of its streaming offers. Disney Plus and Hulu are becoming noticeably more expensive in the US, while ESPN Plus had only increased their prices. Apparently this isn’t spilling over to Europe for the time being, but it’s usually only a matter of time before this is followed in this country as well.

In the US, the price increase is also significant: Disney Plus goes from $8 to $11 a month, which is more than a third. Disney Plus will cost $110 for an annual subscription. The $8 subscription will remain in the US and will be ad-supported going forward. The new prices are effective December 8, 2022. In the US, the offer also includes Hulu, which will be more expensive on October 10, 2022, and ESPN Plus only increased the prices on August 23. In Germany, Disney Plus costs 8 euros in a monthly subscription – since the prices are allocated one to one, 11 euros can also be expected in Germany when the increase comes.

Given the price hikes, it’s also unsurprising that Disney expects subscriber numbers to drop. Compared to the previous year, 14.4 million new subscribers were recently welcomed (plus 26 percent), but in the long term it is expected that the total of 221 million subscribers in the network will be between 215 and 245. Before that, 230 to 260 million users had been forecast.

Disney continues to be one of the beneficiaries in an increasingly fragmented market that’s under pressure. Netflix had significantly lost subscribers and also raised prices; this also applies to Amazon. In order to keep subscribers, one tries one’s luck with (partly) advertising-financed offers. Another streaming service, Paramount Plus, will also be launched in Germany in the fall, and Warner is said to be expanding through the HBO/Discovery arm.