DISNEY+ subscription price rises are “inevitable” but Brit fans face another issue first, an expert has warned.
The popular streaming service hiked fees in the US recently – and typically the UK often follows suit.
Brits last faced subscription changes in November, which saw the platform’s first ad-based tier introduced for £4.99 per month.
Before users see any price rises, analyst Paolo Pescatore from PP Foresight says a password sharing clamp down will sting first.
But he predicts that the move could be bittersweet, encouraging Disney to put off price rises for a bit.
“In the first instance, we should expect to see Disney focus on clamping down on password sharing,” Paolo told The Sun.
“This will start in earnest from next month which should lead to a ramp up in subscribers and in turn revenue.
“Therefore, it might not be an opportune moment to hike up prices which will cause consumer resentment and frustration.”
Despite this, he thinks Disney+ price rises will come to the UK by the end of the year.
The expert expects the hike will be “broadly around a similar amount, maybe a bit less than the previous UK price hike”.
“This should make its ads option more attractive, unfortunately all subscribers could be in for a double whammy with prices all heading in the wrong direction,” Paolo cautioned.
“Price rises are inevitable, and we can expect to see this most likely on an annual basis; akin to traditional pay TV and other services in their quest to drive profitability.”
Disney+ prices last increased in November 2023 – though a cheaper new ad-based tier was introduced to soften the blow.
All main plans with full benefits, such as 4K and four concurrent steams, were essentially made premium, going from £7.99 to £10.99 per month.
The standard plan, limited to 1080p quality and two concurrent streams, was priced at £7.99.
And the ad-supported plan came in at £4.99.
The US price changes come into effect in October.
There’s more variety in the US due to existing platform Hulu and ESPN for sport, so there are bundle options.
But as far as Disney+ is concerned, the ad-supported plan increased from $7.99 to $9.99.
And the ad-free plan went from $13.99 to $15.99.
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