Here are the new prices, which will go into effect in 30 days (per Vulture):
- •Disney+, Hulu Bundle (with ads) is going up by $2. (It will now cost $13 per month.)
- •Disney+ Premium (no ads) is going up by $3. (It will now cost $19 per month.)
- •Disney+ (with ads) is going up by $2. (It will now cost $12 per month.)
- •Hulu + Live TV (with ads) is going up by $7. (It will now cost $90 per month.)
While one might wonder if these increases were some sort of knee-jerk response to the rush of Kimmel-related cancellations, journalist Marisa Kabas of The Handbasket, the first to report on the timing of the price hikes, suggests that they were actually on the schedule before the company capitulated to the FCC’s tantrum regarding Kimmel’s critiques of the Republican response to Charlie Kirk’s death. In fact, the pre-planned increases might have been a factor in Kimmel’s relatively speedy reinstatement. (His show is back on tonight.) “With subscriptions hemorrhaging since last week, they couldn’t risk losing more users with this announcement,” Kabas wrote.
Regardless of whether these increases were baked into the budget months in advance, as Vulture also suggests, the timing of the announcement could not have been crappier for the happiest place on Earth. Disney is still very much under scrutiny for its decision to suspend Kimmel’s show in the first place. Hundreds of stars have signed open letters or vowed never to work with the company again, and pretty much every other late night host has publicly condemned the decision. The company has also faced pressure from its own, with dissent coming from both its current ranks and even ex-CEO Michael Eisner. Disney will learn in the coming weeks how many people are willing to pay even more for its services. In the meantime, marketing students should jot down pretty much every recent move the company has made as a big fat “what not to do.”
