Believe it or not, Disney dares to announce price increases for its Disney+ streaming service, happening towards the end of next month. While it isn’t a massive increase, it’s still more $$ companies expect consumers to pay, which is becoming an annual occurrence amongst select streaming services.
Effective on October 21st, the standard plan with ads will go from $10 to $12 monthly, the Premium plan w/o ads is going from $16 to $19 monthly, the Hulu standard plan with ads is going from $10 to $12 monthly, and the premium version of Hulu w/o ads will stay the same at $19 monthly. The number of bundles for Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and HBO Max is also increasing, with a price increase of $2-$3. The full pricing changes can be seen on the Disney+ support page.
This is after the company removed Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show from the air after some comments about our current commander-in-chief and a recent assassination. Disney succumbed to the pressure of the current FCC chairman and a large affiliate, only to change their minds days later after losing around $4 billion in subscriptions due to public boycotts. The company easily went against the message of many of its own movies and will be on the wrong side of history. After this news of price increases, I can see many continuing to no longer subscribe to Disney+, with more potentially joining them.
If you’re over the service and company as a whole, we have some alternatives for you and your family to enjoy. Although YouTube Kids is terrible at filtering out inappropriate content, you can subscribe to select YouTube channels to enjoy free content like Bluey, Paw Patrol, GI Joe, Magic School Bus, The Wiggles, Curious George, and more. There are also free apps like PBS Kids, Tubi Kids, and Pluto Kids, as well as Kanopy and Hoopla apps, which can be accessed via your local library.
I hope this is helpful. Enjoy!
