Disney+ is introducing advertising next week, with prices set to go up and a crackdown on password sharing also kicking off at the same time.
Cost of living crisis be damned! A few days after Netflix began the process of emailing subscribers to inform large chunks of them about incoming price rises for its streaming service, Disney+ is set to introduced its own round of price increases.
These were announced a few weeks ago, as part of Disney’s drive to turn Disney+ into a profitable venture. It’s been making some slow progress there, although there’s still a little bit of a sense of a money pit about it. Still, the platform has a hefty customer base, and from November 1st, said customer base will be paying more.
Coming into effect next week, the new standard ad-supported tier of Disney+ will cost £4.99 a month, while the non-ads standard version of the service will cost £7.99 (discounted to £79.90 if you pay up front for a year). At the top end, the £10.99 monthly charge for the premium tier is a lot cheaper than Netflix’s £17.99 equivalent, although there’s more material currently available on Netflix. Again, Disney offers a discount if you pay for a year up front, with the premium service having an annual charge of £109.90.
The second phase of Disney’s end of year plan for Disney+ will kick in at the same time, as it follows Netflix’s lead by pursuing a crackdown on password sharing. This has proven successful for Netflix, and is a cited reason behind its recent subscriber growth. Disney will be hoping for the same effect, as it tries to clamp down on several households using the same password. It changed its terms and conditions back in September to pre-empt the move, which had been expected to kick in next year. Disney has clearly decided to accelerate its plans.
The specific rule cited by Disney is:
You may not share your subscription outside of your household. ‘Household’ means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the people who live there.
As such, a student at university using the family password doesn’t appear to be covered.
November 1st, then, when the ad tiers begin, the price rises happen, and the password sharing operation gets underway. All just in time for Christmas. Ho ho ho!
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