Disney+ and Hulu Get Huge Price Increases; Password-Sharing Crackdown to Follow
Paul Dailly
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The cost of streaming is getting more expensive by the day.
Disney announced Wednesday that its streaming services, Disney+ and Hulu, are the latest to overhaul their pricing strategies.
Beginning Thursday, October 12, Disney+ Premium, which currently costs $10.99/month, will soar 27 percent to $13.99/month (or $139.99 per year).
The cost of Hulu's ad-free offering will surge 20 percent, going from $14.99 to $17.99/month.
It's not all bad news: A new combined plan featuring the ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu will be made available on Wednesday, September 6.
The offering will clock in at $19.99, which isn't bad if you keep both services.
As expected, the ad-supported editions of Disney+ and Hulu will remain at $7.99 per month, or you can bundle them for $9.99 per month.
These hikes won't be felt as much if you subscribe to both platforms, but it's hard not to side-eye Disney for deciding to raise prices.
There's also some bad news for those who share your account with people outside your household.
Disney will follow in the footsteps of Netflix to introduce measures to crack down on account sharing.
"We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an earnings call Wednesday.
"Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms and our sharing policies. And we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024."
The move helped Netflix increase its subscriber base globally, so it might be a sign of the times that other companies will try to capitalize on similar measures.
Despite the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Disney+ has a substantial content inventory for the year's final months, which should keep people streaming.
Ahsoka, Loki, and Echo are just some of the shows already scheduled for later in the year.
What are your thoughts on the decision to raise prices?
Hit the comments.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
