Disney announced on Tuesday it will raise the subscription prices for its streaming services, amid widespread calls for a boycott following Jimmy Kimmel’s abrupt suspension from Disney-owned ABC.
The increase is set to go into effect for new subscribers beginning Oct. 21. Current subscribers will see the change to their first bill on or after that date.
Disney+ with ads and Hulu with ads will both increase by $2 to $11.99 per month, while Disney+ Premium will increase by $3 to $18.99.
The Disney+ with Hulu bundle is going up by $2 to $12.99 per month, and ESPN Select will increase by $1 to $12.99. Hulu’s Live TV Only plan will increase by $7 to $88.99 per month.
Many of the company’s bundles that include services from non-Disney providers will start costing more, too. But the price for Hulu Premium, ESPN Unlimited and the Disney+ with Hulu Premium bundle will not go up.
The announcement of the price hikes comes a day after the company said “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return to its late-night time slot — though not on affiliates owned by conservative companies Nexstar and Sinclair — as many in Hollywood have pushed for subscribers for cancel Disney’s services in the wake of Kimmel being pulled of the air last week.
The controversial decision also prompted protests from writers and unions who said they wouldn’t work with Disney in the future. A letter from the American Civil Liberties Union was signed by more than 400 artists, including Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro, Jane Fonda, Ben Stiller, Pedro Pascal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Natalie Portman.
So many people have purportedly tried to scrap their subscriptions that there were reports of Disney+’s cancellation page crashing.
According to The Wrap, the price increase is not related to the Kimmel backlash and was planned well in advance. However, according to The Handbasket, Disney partly resolved things with Kimmel speedily because it was hemorrhaging subscribers — more than 1 million — as a result of the fallout and will likely lose more over the price hikes.
Disney announced in August it had a total of 207.4 million subscribers across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
