Sophie Blake
Disney announced on Wednesday that customers in the United States will soon be able to access both Disney+ and Hulu content in a single mobile app. The company is also getting ready to raise the price of its ad-free Disney+ subscription plan.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger made the announcement during Disney’s latest quarterly earnings call that took place yesterday. In the second quarter of 2023, Disney+ lost 4 million subscribers while Hulu added 200,000 new customers.
Also Read: Disney+ Subscriber & Revenue Statistics (2023)
Iger said that they will launch the new ‘’one-app experience’’ later this year, but that Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will all remain as standalone platforms at the same time.
“While we continue to offer Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options, this is a logical progression of our [direct-to-consumer] offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience,” Iger said.
Disney’s new move follows similar actions taken by its main rivals, such as Paramount’s merger of Paramount+ and Showtime, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ into its newly launched Max service..
Disney’s ad free plan to get a price hike
Iger also revealed during the earnings call that Disney is planning to raise the price of its ad-free plan soon. The plan’s monthly price increased from $7.99 to $10.99 late last year, after the company launched its new ad-supported tier.
“The pricing changes we’ve already implemented [have] proven successful, and we plan to set a higher price for our ad-free tier later this year to better reflect the value of our content offerings,” the CEO added. “As we look to the future, we will continue optimizing our pricing model to reward loyalty and reduce churn to increase subscriber revenue for the premium ad-free tier and drive growth of subscribers…”
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