Since its launch in late 2019, Disney+ has risen to become one of the dominant contenders in the Streaming Wars. A lot of that is due to Disney’s strong slate of extremely buzzy original shows, like the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and a range of popular Marvel offerings like WandaVision, Loki and Hawkeye. The platform has also been working to expand its content library, largely by acquiring other studios like 20th Century Fox in 2020.
Disney+ ended 2021 with a reported 130 million subscribers, which is pretty impressive. The only other streaming platforms ahead of it in the subscriber department are Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which reportedly both ended 2021 with upwards of 200 million subscribers.
Yet at the end of the day, Disney is a corporation, and the one thing corporations demand is constant growth. The brass behind Disney+ have an idea for how to foster more of that in the coming years.
Disney+ will roll out an ad-based subscription option late this year
Per Syfy Wire, Disney has announced that it be introducing an ad-based subscription option. While other platforms like Netflix are raising their prices to over $15 a month, Disney+ is doing the opposite. Disney+’s standard subscription plan currently sits at $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year, which is already cheaper than its largest rivals Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max. The new plan will be even cheaper, the better to get Disney+ into more homes.
“Expanding access to Disney+ to a broader audience at a lower price point is a win for everyone – consumers, advertisers, and our storytellers,” said executive Kareem Daniel. “More consumers will be able to access our amazing content. Advertisers will be able to reach a wider audience, and our storytellers will be able to share their incredible work with more fans and families.”
“Since its launch, advertisers have been clamoring for the opportunity to be part of Disney+ and not just because there’s a growing demand for more streaming inventory,” added exec Rita Ferro. “Disney+ with advertising will offer marketers the most premium environment in streaming with our most beloved brands, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic. I can’t wait to share more with advertisers at the Upfront.”
This isn’t a totally new strategy, of course; plenty of streaming platforms already have ad-based models. Hulu has been doing it for years, and HBO Max has a cheaper ad-based plan as well. We can only guess that Disney has been taking notes from Hulu since acquiring it and has plenty of data to support a decision like this.
Disney+’s ad-based option is expected to launch in the United States in late 2022, with plans to expand to the international market in 2023.
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