Disney is once again hiking prices on its streaming platforms, a move that highlights just how much the streaming wars have shifted from cheap access to premium content into a game of survival through higher fees.
Starting October 21, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN subscribers will see increases across multiple plans and bundles — the third round of bumps in just a few years.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Disney+ with ads: jumping $2 to $11.99 per month.
- Disney+ Premium (no ads): rising $3 to $18.99 per month.
- Disney+ & Hulu (ads) bundle: up from $10.99 to $12.99 per month.
- Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Premium: from $26.99 to $29.99 per month.
The hikes are arriving at an awkward moment for Disney. The company is still managing fallout from its handling of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which it suspended after Kimmel’s inflammatory remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
While Disney has restored the program, Sinclair and Nexstar affiliates refuse to carry it, signaling how controversial content can collide with corporate image at a time when consumer trust already feels stretched thin.
Disney is also doubling down on sports, rolling out its ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service in August. That service comes in two plans, including an all-access option for $29.99 a month covering all ESPN networks, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, and more than 47,000 live events.
Subscribers can bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu for the same monthly price for the first year — effectively a teaser to lock users into Disney’s ecosystem before standard pricing kicks in.
The bigger picture is clear: streaming is no longer the cheap alternative to cable. Virtually every platform — Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, and Disney — has turned to higher prices, password-sharing crackdowns, and ad-supported tiers to keep revenue growing. The initial land grab for subscribers has given way to profitability as the only metric that matters.
For consumers, the tradeoff is painful. The more original content companies pour money into, the more subscribers are asked to shoulder the costs. What once felt like an affordable, à la carte escape from bloated cable packages now looks increasingly like cable 2.0 — bundled, expensive, and unavoidable if you want access to the shows and sports you love.
