“Absurd” — Disney CEO Bob Chapek Comments on Disney+ Original Price and Future Increases

Lots of Disney fans are likely tired of hearing about new price increases in the parks. Merchandise, food, park tickets, and more have all gotten more expensive over the last few years. But the Disney Parks aren’t the only places where you’ll see price increases.

Disney+ sign at Hollywood Studios

By the end of 2022, all of the Disney streaming services will have seen pretty major price increases, with Disney+ getting the biggest price hike. If Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s recent comments are any indication, these might not be the last price increases we’ll see for the streaming platforms.

Disney+ launched in November 2019, and we’ve seen just one price increase so far since its initial debut. It started out as $6.99/month, then increased to $7.99/month in March 2021. That $1 price increase is small compared to the change we’re about to see for this streaming platform.

Disney+ Price Increases

All of Disney’s streaming services are going to see price increases soon, if they haven’t already this year.

As of December 8th, 2022, Disney+ Premium (the no-ad plan) will be $10.99/month, or $109.99/year. Disney+ Basic (with ads) will be $7.99/month (the current price for the no-ad plan). This is a significant increase, as the Premium service went from $7.99/month to $10.99/month — a $3 increase.

©Disney

In addition, Hulu is getting a price increase. Hulu Basic (with ads) will be $7.99/month or $79.99/year (compared to the current price of $6.99/month and $69.99/year). Hulu Premium (without ads) will be $14.99/month (compared to the current price of $12.99/month). The Hulu price increases will take effect on October 10th, 2022.

©Hulu

ESPN+ saw a major price increase earlier this year. The cost for ESPN+ went up $3 or about 43%, from $6.99/month or $69.99/year to $9.99/month or $99.99/year.

©ESPN+

So by 2023, all of Disney’s streaming platforms will be more expensive than they were at the start of 2022. But are even MORE price increases on the way?

CEO Bob Chapek’s Thoughts on Current and Future Pricing

At the recent Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, Bob Chapek admitted that he thought the initial launch price for Disney+ was “pretty absurd.” He called the $6.99/month price “so attractive to the consumer,” and claimed that, since the debut of the platform, Disney has “continually invested and reinvested and taken up our investment and taken up our investment again.” In other words, Disney feels that Disney+ was already too cheap, and then Disney made it even more valuable, which increased the disparity between the price and the actual value.

©Deadline

Chapek doesn’t think that the upcoming price increase will stop consumers from using Disney+. He said, “We believe that our churn implications of taking up the price even in the big chunks that we are doing it is going to be negligible.” In business, “churn” is a measure of how many people stop using a product or service. So in plain language, Disney believes that most people will still be willing to pay for Disney+.

Baymax! billboard

But will there be more price increases in the future? Chapek says, “I think we’ve got a long way to go still” when it comes to increasing the cost. He claims that Disney is still “significantly under where our competitors are” in terms of pricing for streaming services. For reference, Netflix costs $9.99/month for the basic plan, HBO Max costs $9.99/month for the basic plan (with ads), Apple TV+ costs $4.99/month or $14.95/month as part of Apple One, and Paramount+ costs $4.99/month for the basic plan or $9.99/month for the plan with no ads. Compared to those streaming services, Disney+ Basic Plan (with ads) is cheaper than HBO Max and Netflix, but more expensive than Paramount+ or Apple TV+.

©Netflix

Chapek referenced Disney+’s value, stating that Disney had “great, vibrant, creative engines all humming.” According to Variety, Chapek said, “We have an embarrassment of riches in terms of the plethora of content we have coming from our creative engines.” Some content that was recently added to Disney+ includes AndorShe Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Dancing With the Stars. There’s more on the way, as well.

©Disney

Chapek also said that the initial, low price of Disney+ is why people are surprised by the big price increases now: “I don’t think if we came out at a more moderate price to start with, people would be looking at where we are at now and say, ‘Oh my gosh, you took such a big price increase.’ It’s only relative to where we started.”

Marvel’s Hawkeye Billboard in Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Future price increases will be determined by “what the market will bear, which is a direct reflection of price and value.” Chapek says that Disney+ is still “way underpriced relative to the value that we provide.” He said, “We have a lot of room on the price value range.”

©Disney

In addition to future price increases, Disney expects to see subscriber numbers grow. Chapek said that “we are not even close to done” when it comes to adding subscribers to the streaming services. “We still see headroom” […] By headroom, I mean how many people intend to subscribe versus how many people actually have subscribed.”

In their last earnings report, Disney reported a total of 152.1 million subscribers for Disney+ and 221 million total subscriptions across all its streaming platforms. This was about a 31% increase from the previous year’s numbers.

Soul

Some of Disney’s optimism comes from the success that Hulu has had when it comes to the addition of an ad-supported plan. “Given the success of our advertising subscription business on the Hulu side, we are expecting great things on Disney+.”

We could be in for more streaming price increases soon. We’ll keep you up to date with all the Disney news, so stay tuned to AllEars for the latest updates!

Learn more about what Disney CEO Bob Chapek says about streaming.

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3 Replies to ““Absurd” — Disney CEO Bob Chapek Comments on Disney+ Original Price and Future Increases”

  1. “Absurd is correct”. I already subscribe to some others and if they go up, so do I. I stream online because I hate commercials. At this rate, I will be paying more for streaming services than I was for cable, and that is absurd. I will need to cancel this and others. I, as many people are, am on a fixed income and have to live within my means. So goodbye disney, not worth it.

  2. An extra $3 a month is worth it for the streaming service I watch the most. What I hate about saying that statement is that it provides more ammunition for Chapek and company to continue raising prices on everything Disney.

  3. I do not plan to continue to pay. The new stuff coming in isn’t worth the increase. If they started to include the new content that they are giving Disney + Asia, then I would consider it. Since at this time they have only brought over one show from that market.