Disney+ has gone from one of the cheapest to one of the most expensive streaming services
Since Disney+ launched in 2019, its price has gone up 172%. A combined Disney+ and Hulu app paves the way for future price increases.
When Disney launched its streaming service Disney+ for $6.99 a month in 2019, it was cheaper than many other services out there.
Starting in October, it will be 172% more expensive than it was six years ago.
Back then, Netflix had just raised its price to $8.99 per month for its basic service. HBO’s streaming service, then called HBO Now, cost $14.99. Apple TV+, which also launched in 2019, cost $4.99 but also had a tiny content library consisting of about eight originals. Hulu, which is owned by Disney and unlike the others had an ad-supported tier at the time, had recently lowered its ad tier to $5.99 per month while its ad-free tier was $11.99.
In the intervening years, these streaming services repeatedly raised their prices and ad-supported tiers became commonplace.
With Disney’s latest price hike — its fourth in four years — slated to go into effect in October, Disney+ and Hulu are now some of the most expensive streaming services. Disney raised the prices of its Disney+ and Hulu bundles as well, which cost only $1 more than a single subscription. On the company’s latest earnings call, it announced it would merge Disney+ and Hulu into a single app next year.
“I imagine down the road, it may give us some price elasticity as well that we haven’t had before,” CEO Bob Iger said on the call, suggesting the cost of Disney+ will likely continue to grow.
“You’re going to end up with a far better consumer experience when those apps are combined, by combining all of the program assets of both apps, both current apps, and obviously, with an improved consumer experience comes the ability to lower churn, which is obviously something that we’re very, very focused on and committed to doing,” Iger said.
Read more: The Disney, Hulu, Max bundle is more attractive to consumers than a Netflix subscription
