Last October, Disney raised prices on their Disney+ and Hulu plans, as well as the Hulu live TV packages and ESPN+ subscriptions. It was the second time within a year that they had done so. The rate changes were between $4 and $7, which is arguably a lot. Customers were pretty upset, myself included. Well, unfortunately, Disney is once again raising prices for its streaming services. Effective October 17, subscription prices for Disney+ will go up by $2, for ESPN+ and the Disney/Hulu bundle by $1, and $1 to $2 for Hulu+ (depending on the plan). Hulu With Live TV will go up by $6 for the yearly plan, bringing it up to $83 (with ads) and $96 (without ads) per year. Disney is trying to justify their latest price hike by adding “playlists” to Disney+, which will basically act like “channels” a la the Paramount Plus app. The channel options will include ABC News Live and a “playlist of preschool content.”
Big changes are coming to Disney+ later this year, with the company planning price hikes and the addition of what it is calling “continuous playlists” and live news to the platform.
On the pricing front, Disney+ will see the monthly cost of its ad-supported tier rise by $2 to $9.99, while its ad-free tier will rise by $2 to $15.99. Hulu‘s ad tier will also rise by $2 to $9.99 per month, with its ad-free plan rising by $1 to $18.99 per month. Notably, the price hikes appear designed to push consumers to the The Disney Bundle, which will offer the ad tiers of Disney+ and Hulu for $10.99 per month (up $1 from previously), only slightly more than one service or the other. The company is also raising prices at ESPN+, which will increase by $1 to 11.99 per month, and at Hulu With Live TV, which will rise by $6 per month to $82.99, which includes the ad tiers of Hulu and Disney+, and to $95.99 for the ad-free tiers.
All the price hikes will be effective Oct. 17. The company last raised prices a year ago, announcing them in August with an effective date in October. Last year, however, only the ad-free tiers were impacted.
But with the price hikes, Disney is also adding new features to Disney+. Most notably, the company is adding “playlists” to the service, effectively linear channels for viewers to jump and start watching like a traditional TV network. That will include the ABC News Live, the live streaming service of Disney-owned ABC News, and a playlist of preschool content (think Sofia the First, The Lion Guard, Puppy Dog Pals).
Both channels will become available to all subscribers Sept. 4 (notably for ABC News Live, it will be ahead of the 2024 election). Other channels based on seasonal content, retro and nostalgia programming, real-life programming, and “epic stories” like Marvel and Star Wars will be added later in the fall, but only for Premium subscribers.
“Playlists are the latest example of how we’re providing the best value and experience for our subscribers every time they open Disney+,” said Alisa Bowen, president of Disney+, in a statement. “Whether its news, kids’ content, popular genres, hit TV shows or blockbuster films, there will be something for everyone in a lean-back viewing experience based on seasonality and interest.”
The playlists operate similarly to the “channels” users can find on subscription services like Peacock and free streaming services like Pluto TV and Tubi, with a linear schedule built around a specific theme or genre. They allow users to jump in and start watching, without having to hunt around for something to watch, and some media executives believe they can help increase “stickiness” and viewership.
Ehhh honestly, I’d rather save the money each month than have this channel BS. I would rather they just introduced that as an option for a new tier, to be honest. They should have asked me! I know I’ve griped about this before, but it’s so annoying how expensive all of the streaming platforms have gotten. We cut cable 10.5 years ago, in February 2014, and back then, it was a glorious time of savings. Sadly, that’s not the case anymore, even though I think we all knew that capitalism would come for cable-cutters eventually. I wonder how long it will be until consumers strike back. After last year’s price hikes, I ended up taking advantage of yearlong Black Friday offers for a few different services, punting the problem until this winter. The clock is ticking, though, and I hate that we’re going to have to make a decision on which services to keep and which to ditch. It’s a shame, though, because the content on most platforms is pretty good.
Photos via Instagram/Hulu and Disney+. Header photo is from this Instagram video for the show Playground, a Hulu reality series about dancers
Check out Apollo TV. The live channels can be a little buggy but it has most shows and movies from every other streaming platform.
The only streaming service I have year-round is Disney + and that’s because otherwise I would have zero access to Hulu shows (Only Murders, the Bear, and my forever fave The Golden Girls)…here in Quebec / Canada Hulu was never available as a stand-alone.
Cost-wise it wasn’t worth it for me to cut the cord entirely, primarily because I do watch sports. It sucks that the prices are going up so much, especially considering we’re not exactly getting any added value from it.
How else do you expect them to pay Robert Downey Jr’s salary?
It’s mildly annoying, but we switched internet and cable providers during a time they were offering a special. We switched because Spectrum was really spotty in our area, but it just so happened that because of the timing we got high speed internet for $60/month and free cable for two years through ATT and DirecTV. Just wanted to mention it for anyone that is overwhelmed by pricing, there are some deals out there. Might have to wait for the right deal but they really exist. I know this is about streaming services but wanted to encourage anyone who feels they are paying too much for cable and internet to consider switching if there is a deal!
Some of the free services (especially Pluto) are really enjoyable. I have had Hulu/Disney+ and Prime for years, but refuse to renew Prime because of the decline in WAPO due to Bezo’s politics and various petty business practices (destroying the us postal service because Amazon’s contract only pays about 50 cents for any package of any size to be delivered-postal workers have had to work more hours for much less pay because of that unfavorable deal; adding a $3 a month fee to view prime without commercials; not paying warehouse workers a living wage while overworking and big brother level monitoring them). I refuse to watch any of the next generation movies featuring RDJ. He isn’t the reason why the Marvel movies were successful and everyone who works full time on a movie deserves a living wage. The mentality that a couple white men deserve all the bank while everyone else struggles is WEIRD.
83 a month for Hulu Live TV?? Why not just have cable at that point?
My husband has long been opposed to cord cutting because he has said it doesnt end up saving money. 5 years ago I vehemently disagreed with him and this was a point of contention for us, but now I think he’s right. If we cut out cable, our internet would still cost something like 100 a month. Our cable bill is high but it does include Netflix, Max, and Peacock, and pretty much every other channel except Starz. If we were paying 100 for internet and then for all the other services….it would be the same as what we’re paying now, maybe we would save 5 or 10 dollars a month.
I pay for Disney+ by the year so I’m not sure how I would be affected by this. Maybe a 20 dollar increase?
We do pay for Hulu as well but I want to cancel that after we finish OMITB and the Bear, or maybe combine it with Disney, IDK.
I think with kids, Disney+ is absolutely worth it, more so than Netflix. But even with that…..its just getting expensive. I can excuse it bc like I said I pay Disney annually so I don’t think of it as a monthly payment.
But the prices just keep creeping up and its getting ridiculous. there has to be a breaking point somewhere, right?
I’ve been on the keep cable train too. I looked through my bill and figured out that my internet is what has been costing me so much, that cable wasn’t nearly as expensive as I thought. Many of my family members had moved to YouTube TV, but when I saw that costs $50-60 a month, it wasn’t that much less than my cable. And presumably Xfinity would charge me more for internet if I cut cable. There didn’t seem to be a point in switching.
I used to get Hulu and Netflix, but dropped Hulu when they raised prices. Now it’s just Netflix, but I recently got an email that they’ve finally come for my Basic plan.
Late-stage capitalism sucks. Why can’t people be like the Arizona Tea guy and just charge what stuff costs? No, we have to always be increasing, increasing, increasing.
We haven’t had cable in over a decade. The only service we have kept consistently is Prime because I order way too much crap online. The others? We rotate through them, watching what we want until we are surfing and finding nothing else of interest, then we cancel. In the summer, the only one we keep is Prime, the rest get torpedoed until late Fall.
I’m so tired of everything going up except my salary. My internet bill has gone up over $30 in six years. Yet it’s not faster.
I have had Hulu + for years. I realize I hardly watch it and spend most of my time on YouTube or the free apps that you can stream movies or tv shows on.
Time to tighten the belt and speak with my wallet.
The only subscription I have remaining is HBO Max, and even that one is toeing the line since they’re continuing to mess up even major shows like HotD with their cost cutting nonsense. The golden age of tv is long over. The capitalists are now destroying whatever creative elements remain on these streamers. Why would I continue to pay for decreasing quality? My recommendation to the younger generation is to learn how to pirate.
I’m in Canada. We watch Gem, Pluto, & YouTube for free. Pluto has ads but at this point, it’s all the same.
Our Prime is 50% off (uni perk, same with Spotify), & we only ad channels when they go on sale. So right now we have Britbox, Masterpiece, & Paramount + all for .99/2 months.
After that we will cancel & wait until a sale again.
We also started collected dvds about 6 years ago, so we have a nice little collection of our favourite series, like Downton, Foyles war, Nero wolf, rosemary & thyme, plus a ton of science fiction.
We’re never going back to Netflix or Disney or any of it. Once we broke up with them, we don’t miss the shows. It begins to be like “who cares” & we realized most tv is pretty bad anyway.