Disney+ is said to be exploring a more affordable subscription plan that will be supported by advertisements for viewers in the United States.
Its current $7.99 per month (or $79.99 per year) price tag makes the service more affordable than Netflix but more expensive than Apple TV+, while rivals like Discovery+ and Paramount+ already offer ad-supported plans from $4.99.
Disney+ could get cheaper, ad-supported plan
Since it made its debut in November 2019, Disney+ has been working to regularly expand its streaming catalog with compelling content. And it offers some of the biggest names in movies and TV, with the likes of Star Wars, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Pixar and National Geographic all on board.
Just one year after its launch, Disney+ boasted over 118 million subscribers, and it hopes to increase that figure to as much as 260 million by 2024. It already hiked prices once in many markets to make up the $8 billion it plans to spend on new content per year. But it is now looking at ways to attract those on a budget.
The Information reports that Disney is considering a more affordable plan that will be supported by ads for subscribers in the U.S. The company hopes the move will “fire up slowing subscriber growth for the service,” reads the report, citing “a person involved in the discussions.”
Disney wants to compete with rivals
Disney also wants to compete with rivals that already offer cheaper plans that use ads to make up their revenue, the report ads. If it goes ahead with the move, it would leave Apple TV+ and Netflix as the only two streaming services that do not offer ad-supported subscription options at a reduced rate.
Apple doesn’t need to do that (and probably never would) given that Apple TV+ is already one of the most affordable services at $4.99 a month. It’s unlikely Netflix would follow suit, either, given that its subscriber count has risen year after year, despite increasing competition from other services.
