Your Disney+ bill is going up!
Starting Friday, the streaming giant announced that it will be raising its monthly subscription by $1.
The increase will bring the price from the current $6.99 to $7.99 a month for the basic membership.
Those with a Disney bundle membership, which includes ESPN+ and Hulu, will pay $13.99 instead of $12.99. The annual fee for Disney+ will also increase from $69.99 to $79.99.
The first-ever price increase since the service debuted in November 2019 comes as the streamer expands its content library to include fresh new films and shows like "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Loki," "Ms. Marvel," "Moon Knight," "Hawkeye," "She-Hulk," "Sister Act 3," "Zootopia+," "Pinocchio," "Hocus Pocus 2," and more.
The streaming service is also home to the “Star Wars,” “Marvel,” and “Pixar” franchise, along with all 32 seasons of “The Simpsons.”
In addition to the new content on the horizon, Disney+ has seen plenty of success with seasons of “The Mandalorian,” “Wandavision,” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."
The streamer has also been thriving during the pandemic by adopting a “straight to streaming” model, which has seen theatrical releases such as “Raya and the Last Dragon,” and “Mulan,” along with the highly-anticipated and upcoming films “Black Widow” and “Cruella,” added to the platform at an additional premium cost.
Disney’s robust content library and attractive price-point were initially a draw for consumers bringing in 100-million subscribers in just 16 months.
Some analysts believe that this is just the first of many price increases for Disney+.
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"Disney+ has been tremendously successful since launch, I think beyond even the most optimistic believers in the product," Andrew Hare, a senior vice president of research at media firm Magid told CNN. "The pricing strategy did what it was supposed to do. It brought in a huge amount of people and almost immediately, Disney+ was a top tier streaming competitor."
The outlet notes that the company plans to spend between $14 billion and $16 billion in the next few years, which also indicates potential price hikes to come.
However, Hare doesn’t foresee it becoming an unreasonable monthly cost.
“"Disney+ will still likely be underpriced when you consider the fandom and content," he said. "It's now a proven and formidable streaming service and will be able to exercise pricing power in the future even as competition in streaming gets more fierce."
As consumers weigh streaming options, Disney compelling original content and nostalgic offerings will likely give it a leg up amongst other giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Apple TV, and HBO Max.
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