Disney Media Distribution
- Disney is launching a $19 streaming bundle in January that will include ad-free Hulu, Disney Plus, and ESPN Plus.
- This will be available alongside its current bundle that includes Hulu with ads for $6 less.
- But both bundles, as well as the standalone Disney Plus subscription, will be hit by a $1 price hike in March.
- Disney announced the new prices at its investor day on Thursday, where it also shared impressive subscriber numbers.
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Disney is launching a streaming bundle in January that will include ad-free Hulu, Disney Plus, and ESPN Plus for $19 a month, it told Business Insider Thursday.
This is a $6 price hike on its current bundle, which only offers Hulu with ads and will remain available, and is the same difference between Hulu’s standalone streaming services with and without ads.
The individual costs of the streaming services per month are $6 for Disney Plus, $6 for ESPN plus, and $12 for ad-free Hulu. Combined, this would cost $25.
But these costs are set to rise very soon. Disney plans to increase the price of its subscription to Disney Plus by $1 in March, to $8 a month. The bundles will each go up by $1 respectively.
The price change wasn't Disney's only announcements at its investor day on Thursday.
The company also shared impressive subscriber numbers for Disney Plus. Despite only launching in November 2019, the streaming service has already amassed 86.8 million subscribers, and on Thursday updated its outlook to between 230 and 260 million total subscriptions by 2024. Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN collectively have more than 137 million subscribers, it said.
The entertainment giant also announced a slate of new productions, including 11 more "Star Wars" TV shows and movies and a "Fantastic Four" reboot.
Disney plans to spend between $14 and $16 billion on content for its streaming services between now and 2024, it said. It also hopes to release more than 100 titles a year for Disney Plus alone.
Disney's investor day highlighted how the industry expects the boom of streaming services to continue well into the future. Its announcement came hot on the heels of Warner Bros saying all of its movies in 2021 will debut on HBO Max the same day they arrive in cinemas, which provoked backlash in the film industry.