Disney Plus, Hulu Hike Ad-Free Prices Amid Slumping Sales; CEO Iger Remains Optimistic for Growth

Walt Disney Company is raising the prices of its streaming services as sales are declining. The company is implementing a price hike to increase the business's profitability.

Associated Press News reported that Walt Disney's chief executive officer, Bob Iger, promised to turn its streaming services into moneymaking units through the hike on their ad-free option. Disney Plus will see an additional $3 or about 27% increase, meaning the service without commercial will now cost $13.99 per month.

The mass media giant will also tweak the subscription plan of its Hulu streaming service. There will be a 20% hike on its ads-free tier, bringing the cost to $17.99 per month. On the other hand, the plans with ads will remain at $7.99.

The company said it will apply the new rates to Disney Plus and Hulu starting Oct. 12. It will also expand its ad-supported subscription plan to some markets in Europe and Canada. Subscribers from select regions may now opt for streaming services with ads starting Nov. 1.

In any case, aside from the slowing sales, it was reported that Disney decided to increase the ad-free subscription rates of Disney Plus and Hulu as it believes its content library has enough materials to compete with Netflix and Warner Bros. Max's Discovery. In comparison, the new prices are almost as high as the rivals' commercial-free plans.

Disney released its earnings result for its fiscal third quarter that ended on July 1. While it reported smaller losses on Disney Plus, it actually lost subscribers in the United States and Canada for the second straight quarter. Moreover, the company's streaming unit lost $512 million in Q3.

This is the second time in less than a year that Disney has implemented a price increase for its streaming offerings. Meanwhile, despite the recent loss of subscribers, Iger remained optimistic about the company's streaming brands.

"We are prioritizing the strength of our brands and franchises, we are rationalizing the volume of content we make, what we spend, and what markets we invest in," the Disney CEO said in a statement. "We are harnessing windowing opportunities, perfecting our pricing and marketing strategies, maximizing our enormous advertising potential, and we're making extensive Hulu content available to bundle subscribers via Disney+."

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