Remember the chatter that the upcoming ad-supported version of Disney+ might cost just as much as regular Disney+ costs now? Well, that prediction turned out to be exactly right.
During its quarterly earnings call today, Disney dropped the bad news about its ad-free Disney+ plan, which–as many had suspected–is getting a serious price hike come December.
We’re talking $10.99 a month for the regular, no-ads Disney+ plan, as of December 8, up from the current $7.99 a month, while the annual plan will cost $109.99, up from $79.99 a month.
Ouch.
Meanwhile, Hulu is also getting a price hike. Hulu with ads will cost $7.99 a month starting October 10, a $1-a-month increase (the annual Hulu with ads plan will increase to $79.99), while the ad-free version of Hulu will cost $14.99 a month, a two-buck-a-month price hike.
Disney also announced a launch date for its new ad-supported Disney+ plan: December 8, the same day as the Disney+ price hikes.
And we now know how much Disney+ with ads will cost: $7.99 a month, same as what we’re paying for ad-free Disney+ right now.
News of the Disney+ and Hulu price hikes is, well, ugh, but not unexpected.
Back in March, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the conglomerate was considering “increas[ing] that price/value relationship” of the ad-free Disney+ tier in 2023 as the streamer added more content. Basically, that means a price hike, and it looks like it’s coming a tad earlier than promised.
The last time Disney+ raised its prices was March 2021, when the monthly price went up from a very reasonable $6.99 to $7.99.
Hulu last raised its on-demand prices a little less than a year ago, with the ad-supported and ad-free Hulu tiers each going up a dollar a month.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.