streaming
Disney+ now gets ads — and charges a surcharge to turn them off
Disney’s streaming offer with films like “Pirates of the Caribbean” will only be available with advertising or a surcharge in the future
© Disney Enterprises/Peter Mountain
Disney has announced an ad-supported version of its streaming offering. But that doesn’t make it any cheaper – on the contrary
Lots of content at a fixed price and no advertising – that was the great attraction of streaming providers such as Netflix and Co. In order to win more customers, however, several of the services rely on a cheaper subscription that is financed with advertising. Disney is now taking a different approach that very few customers will like: Without advertising, you will have to pay more in the future.
Disney announced this as part of the presentation of the current quarterly figures. The new offer should therefore start in December, initially in the USA and Canada. The tariff called Disney+ Basic retains the same content as the previous standard subscription. However, advertising clips are played before and during the content. Disney is currently planning around four minutes of advertising per hour. Only family-friendly spots should be shown, advertising for alcohol or the like will not be accepted, according to the company. There will be no advertising at all in children’s profiles or preschool content.
No savings for customers
Nevertheless, the advertising offer should upset the vast majority of customers. Because while competitors such as Netflix only use advertising to offer cheaper subscriptions, the situation at Disney is getting worse for all customers. The basic package is not cheaper, but at $7.99 it costs the same as the previous subscription. If you don’t want any advertising, you’ll have to pay extra in the future: the ad-free offer, now called Disney+ Premium, will be almost 38 percent more expensive than before at $10.99.
Industry observers suspect calculation behind this decision. With the low entry-level price, Disney managed to make its service successful in record time. Just 16 months after its launch at the end of 2019, the service already had 100 million paying subscribers, and it’s now 152 million. It was suspected very soon after the launch that prices would rise. With the advertising-financed offer at the old price, the price increase seems a little more manageable for customers, suspects “Variety”. In addition to the home service of the same name, the group has also increased the prices of other streaming services such as the ESPN+ sports service.
Germany start follows
Disney itself is trying to sell the new model as a win for customers. “With the new advertising-supported Disney+ offer and the expanded subscription offers across the entire streaming portfolio, we offer customers more choice at different price levels. In this way, we serve the needs of customers and are of interest to an even broader audience,” explained Disneys Media chief Kareem Daniel in a statement.
When exactly the new prices will also apply in Germany is not yet known. However, the changeover is not a question of if, but of when: over the course of the next year, the model will also be rolled out on international markets, explained Disney’s CFO Christine McCarthy.