In America, Disney+ announces more price rises, with UK increases for the streaming service presumably not far behind.
One of the ways the Disney is looking to claw back some of the profits its used to enjoy of old is via an age-old trick: hike your prices. Patrons of Disney theme parks are very aware of this approach, and a year ago, the firm also jacked up the subscriber levees for its Disney+ streaming service.
12 months on from that, in the US at least, it’s doing so again. It feels like just a matter of time before a similar announcement affecting UK prices is issued.
For the minute, specific to Disney+ in America, the price of the streaming service with ads if going from a monthly charge of $7.99 to $9.99. Then, without ads, it’s now going to cost $15.99 rather than $13.99. The price rises have been announced to come into effect from 17th October in America. As others have pointed out, this is now more than double the price for the original ad-free tier than subscribers were paying when the service launched five years ago. An ongoing programme of annual increases is likely to test the loyalty of streaming service customer bases across the industry too, especially if every company continues its current round of price rises.
Disney does offer an assortment of bundles in the US with services such as Hulu and Max, that aren’t available in the UK. That means that a straight round of price rises along similar lines isn’t an absolute certainty, but it remains on the likely side. After all, the cost of doing business in the streaming sector isn’t getting cheaper, and sooner or later, the bill for all of that was going to be passed onto the end consumer.
Streaming subscriber numbers remain on the high side all round though. But the metaphorical bubble burst does feel just a tiny bit closer.
We’ll update you on the UK side of things as we hear it.
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