Disney+ is getting more expensive again in the USA
US customers will soon have to pay more for Disney+: Disney's streaming service will cost USD 12 per month in the advertising version.
(Image: Shutterstock.com/Ivan Marc)
Disney is once again increasing the prices for its Disney+ streaming service in the USA. In the future, US customers will have to pay at least USD 12 per month to be able to watch Disney+ with ads—a price increase of 2 US dollars. Prices are also rising for the other subscription variants. The Premium subscription will cost 3 US dollars more in the future, which corresponds to a monthly cost of 19 US dollars. The new prices will apply from October.
Disney has regularly increased the US prices for Disney+ in the fall in recent years, reports The Verge. The most recent price increase took place last October. At that time, the cost of the subscription with advertising in the US rose from USD 8 to USD 10, while the subscription variant without advertising increased in price from USD 14 to USD 16 per month.
In Germany, Disney+ price increases take place less regularly. In 2023, Disney Germany switched to a new pricing model, which is still in place today. Existing customers were switched to the new model one year later. There is currently no indication that a price increase is imminent in Germany, but this cannot be ruled out.
The subscription structure of Disney+ in Germany
| Standard with advertising | standard | Premium with | |||
| Advertising | âś“ | âś— | âś— | ||
| Exclusive originals and catalogue titles | âś“ | âś“ | âś“ | ||
| Subscription price | Per month | Per month | Per year | Per month | Per year |
| 6 € | 9 € | 90 € | 11,99 € | 120 € | |
| Video quality | Up to Full HD 1080p | Up to Full HD 1080p | Up to 4K UHD & HDR | ||
| Simultaneous streams | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Downloads | âś— | âś“ | âś“ | ||
| Audio | Stereo 5.1 | Stereo 5.1 | Dolby Atmos | ||
Warnings from consumer protection organisations
In spring, it became known that consumer protection organisations had issued a warning to Disney+ due to past price increases. The streaming service had blocked access to subscribed content to force users to decide, according to the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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The consumer protection organization was concerned with a pop-up that existing customers saw in Disney's apps. This pop-up informed users of the impending price increase shortly before their subscription period expired. Customers had to decide whether they wanted to agree to the price increase or cancel their contract. From the point of view of consumer protection organisations, this procedure was problematic because the pop-up could not be closed until a decision had been made. In this respect, the consumer protection organisation argues that Disney denied active subscribers access to their paid subscription content and put them under pressure to decide. According to the NRW consumer advice center, Disney has issued a declaration to cease and desist as a result of the warning and must proceed differently in the event of possible future price increases.
(dahe)
