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Disney+ Price Increase Coming

Disney+ Price Increase Coming

Disney+ Is Increasing Prices

August 30, 2022

Now that we have confirmed the news that Disney+ prices are increasing, just how many of you actually care? Headlines report that current Disney CEO Bob Chapek is raising prices above the market-bottom values they were, much to the chagrin of former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who preferred to keep prices low to grow the user base. The question remains here, though: Is the Disney+ content library strong enough to keep you there at higher prices?

A Huge Jump In Disney+ Prices Is Coming

Here's the news, in case you missed it: Disney+ is getting a rather large price increase and adding a cheaper ad-supported tier. For Disney+ with no ads, you'll be shelling out $3 more per month, or $10.99. For the ad-supported model, you'll pay $7.99 per month (which is the current price of the standard Disney+ subscription).

There's no word yet on how the price increase will effect current Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundles. Those already come in ad-supported ($13.99/month) and no-ad ($19.99/month) flavors. The bare minimum we could likely expect, however, is a small bump in price for both bundles, although there's no much reporting on that yet.

1. Just How Much Do You Hate Ads?

There, we asked. How much do you hate ads? If the answer is "not much", the ad-supported model is probably not going to bother you too much. You'll probably just make the 'ol switcheroo to the ad-supported model, maintain your price point, and go about your day as if nothing happened. But if you absolutely abhor ads, this might be worth a bit of a sweaty moment for you.

If you're the latter, I'll just assume this is you, visualized:

If you really, really hate ads but also strongly dislike paying more nearly 40% more for the same content you were getting, you're not in for a happy day. Especially not in this economy.

2. Just How Much Do You Like the Content?

Ads or no ads, cancel or no cancel. What you do may come down to whether you can afford an extra $3 per month for streaming content, but also whether or not you believe the quality of the content is even worth the extra expense. Or whether the content is good enough to suffer through the ads.

According to JustWatch data, Disney+ currently has over 1,623 titles available in the US. Of those:

23% have a 7/10 or higher on IMDb
6% have an 8/10 or higher
.02% have a 9/10 or higher

Now, we know your content viewing isn't dictated by IMDb scores, but it's a good bellwhether for how audiences view the quality of the content. Below a 7/10, people are only going to see the content, by and large, as mediocre, and aren't going to be as driven to either sign up or stay signed up following huge price increases. Disney+ has great content. But it also only has a small percentage of its library that audiences see as good to great. Will that be enough to keep people?

Probably. Read why in the last section.

3. Let's Face It: Disney Can Pretty Much Do Whatever At This Point

As much as I hate to say it, Disney has a commanding presence. It's one of the few companies in the US and the world that just...doesn't seem to know how to fail. It's so ingrained in our culture that the company can massively mistreat us and still make bank.

Case in point:

Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker

is considered by critics to be one of the worst Star Wars movies. And fans generally dislike it too, given its 6.5/10 IMDb rating and 4.6/10 rating on Metacritic. Still, it cleared a billion dollars in the box office on a $275 million budget. (FWIW, I enjoyed the film.)

It all comes down to powerful franchises. Disney owns IPs that will continue to sell, almost regardless of how much the company butchers them. And as long as its pockets remain deep, it'll continue having the money to keep buying and producing content that makes it more money.

This Week's Streaming Guide

1. Hulu Psychological Thriller 'The Patient' Streaming TODAY

"Sam has an unusual therapeutic demand for Alan: curb his homicidal urges." -

Watch on Hulu

2. Guy Fieri's Food Trivia Show Premieres on Food Network/Discovery+

"Hollywood celebrities and their close friends and family join Guy Fieri in the Flavortown Lounge for an evening of food, drinks, and food-related games and trivia." Streaming this Wednesday (Aug. 31) -

Watch Food Network Without Cable

3. AMC+ Animated Drama 'Pantheon' Streams Thursday

"Pantheon focuses on Maddie (Chang), a bullied teen who receives mysterious help from someone online. The stranger is soon revealed to be her recently deceased father, David (Kim), whose consciousness has been uploaded to the Cloud". Streaming Thursday (Sept. 1) on AMC+ -

Watch AMC Without Cable

4. Amazon Prime Lord of the Rings Series Premieres Friday

Don't miss the long-awaited premiere of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 1 this Friday (Sept. 2). -

Watch on Prime Video