Consumers are never crazy about price increases for their favorite products. Such bumps can be encouraging for shareholders of the companies behind the increases, however.
That was the case on Tuesday with Walt Disney (DIS -1.74%), following the entertainment giant's announcing hikes for most of its popular streaming video offerings -- one day before it's slated to publish its latest set of quarterly earnings. The company's share price closed the day 2.5% higher, easily topping the 1% gain of the benchmark S&P 500 index.
New pricing for the streamers
Disney's stand-alone streamers are all getting price hikes. The company's flagship Disney+ will cost consumers 25% more -- $9.99 per month -- if they're willing to accept ads on the service. The price of ad-free Disney+ is being raised 14% to $15.99.
Hulu is to become pricier too; like the ads-included Disney+ tier, it's going to cost $9.99. The service's ad-free premium option is being lifted by $1 to $18.99. ESPN+ will be $1 more expensive per month, as its cost is rising to $11.99.
As for Disney's popular bundle of services, the Trio -- Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ -- is getting a $2-per-month price bump. This applies to both the ad-supported and ad-free versions. The new prices for the pair are $16.99 and $26.99, respectively.
The only Disney streaming option that isn't getting a price raise is the ad-free Duo (which wraps Disney+ and Hulu without ESPN+). This holds steady at $19.99 per month. The ad-supported Duo, though, is getting a $1 increase to $10.99.
The new pricing will go into effect on Oct. 17.
Spin job
In its press release unveiling the price increases, Disney attempted to emphasize a new feature -- a set of continuous, curated playlists for Disney+ -- in order to soften the blow. It didn't necessarily need to, as the hikes aren't high enough to spark a consumer rebellion. Customer defection shouldn't be too painful, and the higher take will help stem the losses Disney has famously absorbed from operating its streamers.
