In what’s becoming a common occurrence with most streaming services, Disney has announced a fresh price increase that will impact its ad-free and with-ads tiers of Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus. You might recall that Disney Plus last raised prices about a year ago, and these new prices will go into effect on October 17, 2024.
It’s not all bad news, though. Disney is introducing something similar to live channels in the form of continuous playlists and adding ABC News Live right into its already popular service.
Increases across the board
The price increases are pretty widespread, though. They impact Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN with or without ads, as well as bundles. Disney Plus and Hulu monthly options are increasing by $2, while ESPN will cost $1 more a month.
Here’s a breakdown of the increases for customers in the United States:
- Disney Plus Basic (with ads) moves from $7.99 to $9.99 a month.
- Disney Plus Premium (without ads) moves from $13.99 to $15.99 a month
- Hulu with ads moves from $7.99 to $9.99 a month
- Hulu without ads moves from $17.99 to $18.99 a month
- ESPN Plus moves from $10 to $11.99 a month
Bundle price increases are a bit more wide-ranging. The basic Disney Duo plan, which includes Disney Plus and Hulu with ads, will increase by $1 to $10.99 from $9.99. That same bundle without ads stays at $19.99 a month, though. However, getting Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu with ads jumps by $2 to $26.99 a month from $24.99.
Hulu’s Live TV bundles, which include access to Disney Plus and ESPN, are also increasing by $6. Thus, Hulu + Live TV with ads for on-demand content jumps to $82.99 from $76.99, and that same bundle without ads for on-demand content is now at $95.99 from $89.99.
You’ll have until October 17, 2024, to consider the price increases, but as of now, no users are grandfathered in, so you will see the increase hit then.
The cost of new features
Still, for that price increase, Disney Plus is getting an ABC News Live integration directly into the platform on September 4, 2024, which falls ahead of the upcoming 2024 Election – meaning this could be a great resource. Additionally, these playlists providing a continuous stream of content will be grouped by category, with a pre-school-themed one launching first. You can likely expect to see “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Bluey,” and “Sofia The First” in the mix here.
At some point after, other themes like Star Wars and Marvel will be launched under “Epic Content” alongside “Throwbacks,” ”Real Life,” and other seasonal content. However, these and presumably any others will only be for premium customers, aka those without advertisements.
The price increase also comes a day after Disney Plus added a new environment to its app on the Apple Vision Pro. With it, you can now watch “The Mandalorian,” a throwback hit like “Hannah Montana,” “Finding Nemo,” “Only Murders In The Building,” or any other piece of content on what feels like an infinitely large screen with the backdrop of Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park courtesy of National Geographic. Other platforms are adding similar Vision Pro content features. You can watch movies with SpongeBob in Paramount Plus now and even catch jellyfish.
You’ll ultimately have to weigh the cost of the increase, including the person writing this story who has Hulu + Live TV, and see if it works out. And who knows, maybe Disney is working on other features or content additions to its streaming services.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
