This week Disney+ announced that it would be launching an ad-supported tier to its mix of subscription plans in the United States.
This new offering is set to go live from 8th December in the US, but with it come a few other changes for current subscribers in the region. To that end, the platform will be raising the price of its monthly plan to $10.99 from $7.99.
As for the ad-supported tier, it will cost $7.99, replacing the price of the former non-ad version of the streaming service.
It is not simply the straightforward Disney+ offering that is increasing in price to make way for the new ad-supported tier either, with bundled offerings getting a similar treatment. The bundle that includes an-free version of Disney+ and an ad-supported variant of Hulu and ESPN Plus is going up by one Dollar to $14.99 per month.
The reason for these changes, other than padding any potential loss of subscribers to the ad-supported tier, according to Disney, is options.
“With our new ad-supported Disney+ offering and an expanded lineup of plans across our entire streaming portfolio, we will be providing greater consumer choice at a variety of price points to cater to the diverse needs of our viewers and appeal to an even broader audience,” noted Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, in a press release.
“Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ feature unparalleled content and viewing experiences and offer the best value in streaming today, with over 100,000 movie titles, TV episodes, original shows, sports, and live events collectively,” he added.
The big question, however, is what knock on effect this will have in other regions. At the time of writing, no mention is made of other regions getting the ad-supported tier, nor price increases.
We have reached out to Disney+ South Africa for clarity on the matter to confirm whether any price increase is in the offing, as well as the prospect of the ad-supported tier coming to SA. We will update our readers once we have feedback.
Given that the ad-supported tier will cost the same as the ad-free version did from 8th December onwards Stateside, we’re assuming a similar change locally will not go down well.
