Disney is cranking up Disney Plus prices again, pushing the premium plan to $18.99 monthly starting October 21st - a move that comes just days after the company scrambled to restore Jimmy Kimmel Live! amid a subscription backlash. The timing reveals how Disney's balancing profitability goals against mounting subscriber churn risks in an increasingly competitive streaming landscape.
Disney just delivered another gut punch to streaming subscribers, announcing price hikes that push Disney Plus premium to $18.99 monthly - nearly triple the $6.99 launch price from 2019. The increases take effect October 21st, with the ad-supported tier jumping $2 to $11.99 and annual subscriptions rising $30 to $189.99.
This marks Disney's fourth consecutive year of price increases, following hikes in December 2022, October 2023, and October 2024. The company's streaming division finally turned profitable for the first time last year after burning through billions in content investments.
But the timing couldn't be worse. Disney's announcement comes just six days after the company restored Jimmy Kimmel Live! following a PR disaster that saw celebrities calling for subscription boycotts. The late-night host was indefinitely suspended over comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, sparking public outrage and boycott calls.
Journalist Marisa Kabas reported that Disney's rush to restore Kimmel may have been driven by the planned price increases. "With subscriptions hemorrhaging since last week, they couldn't risk losing more users with this announcement," an unnamed Disney source told Kabas.
The price escalation puts Disney Plus squarely in premium territory, competing directly with Netflix's standard plan at $15.49 and approaching HBO Max's $19.99 tier. Disney's strategy mirrors the broader streaming industry's shift from growth-at-all-costs to profitability-focused models, but it's testing subscriber tolerance at a critical moment.
