Disney+ customers in Britain will now have to pay up to £36 more a year to watch TV shows and movies.
The streaming giant introduced a price hike from today alongside the launch of a new, cheaper option of its service with adverts.
Up until now there had only been a single price for Disney+ in the UK — a £7.99 per month or £79.90 a year subscription.
But from today the platform has brought in three new tiers: a standard package with adverts, which is priced at £4.99 per month; standard without ads for £7.99 per month; and a premium option for £10.99 per month.
It means that UK subscribers who had been enjoying the 4K HDR experience with Dolby Atmos sound will now have to pay £3 per month more to keep their existing features, representing an effective price hike of up to £36 a year.
Price hike: Disney+ customers in Britain will now have to pay up to £36 more a year to watch TV shows and movies
Changes: Up until today there had only been a single price for Disney+ in the UK. But there are now three new tiers: a standard package with adverts, which is priced at £4.99 per month; standard without ads for £7.99 per month; and a premium option for £10.99 per month
| Standard with Ads | Standard | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads | Yes | No | No |
| Video Quality | Up to 1080p Full HD video | Up to Full HD 1080p video | Up to 4k UHD & HDR video |
| Concurrent Streams | 2 concurrent streams | 2 concurrent streams | 4 concurrent streams |
| Downloads | No | Downloads on up to 10 devices | Downloads on up to 10 devices |
| Audio | Up to 5.1 audio | Up to 5.1 audio | Up to Dolby Atmos audio |
| Cost | Monthly: £4.99 | Monthly: £7.99 Annually: £79.90 |
Monthly: £10.99 Annually: £109.90 |
Those who have an annual subscription would pay £30 more because the premium yearly option has been priced at £109.90.
The ad-supported plan was first introduced in the US in December last year but is now being rolled out across Canada and other parts of Europe as well as the UK.
It will cost Disney+ customers in Britain the same as the ad-supported tier launched by Netflix last year.
That isn’t the case for users in the US, where the cheapest option offered by Disney+ is $1 per month less than its rival.
Both are similar in features, however.
They stream in 1080p quality, offer 5.1 audio and support two concurrent streams, while neither lets you download TV shows or films.
You get an average of four minutes of adverts per hour with both, but Disney+ has confirmed that its movies will be different to TV shows because they will not be interrupted.
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Instead they will appear as pre-rolls before the film starts.
The next big streaming hitter to enter the ad-based stakes will be Amazon, which has said it will launch a new Prime Video tier early next year in the US, UK, Canada and Germany.
If you don’t want to endure adverts when watching Disney+, however, there are two other options.
The first – a ‘standard without ads’ package – will give customers the ability to download videos to watch offline on up to 10 different devices.
The premium option, meanwhile, includes downloads, 4k video, and the ability to use the account on up to four different devices at once.
Luke Bradley Jones, general manager of Disney+ EMEA, said: ‘Today’s launch represents a significant milestone for Disney+ in the UK, offering customers the flexibility to select a plan that suits their needs and budget.
‘All of our customers can enjoy a wide range collection of award-winning original TV series and blockbuster movies, including FX’s “The Bear,” “Elemental,” and “Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story,” along with fan favourites like Season 2 of Marvel Studios’ “Loki” and the latest series of “The Simpsons” and “Grey’s Anatomy.’
In August, Disney announced that it was following in the footsteps of rival streaming service Netflix by revealing plans to crackdown on password sharing.
The company has been battling to reverse falling profits amid a sharp drop in advertising sales and a poor showing at the Box Office for several of its recent films.
CEO Bob Iger said at the time athat Disney was exploring account sharing for streaming and would provide additional details on how it plans to curb it later this year.
Things aren’t all rosy for Netflix either.
Just last month the streaming giant announced that it was hiking its prices for millions of customers in the UK, with some now facing monthly fees of up to £17.99 — an increase of £2 per month.
Its premium, ad-free plan now costs £17.99/month in the UK — a rise of £2, while the standard subscription will remain at £10.99 per month.
Industry experts have suggested that the price rises will help Netflix make up the shortfall in lost revenue caused by Hollywood’s actor strike.
The company has been forced to postpone at least 43 shows and movies because of the industrial action.
WHAT ARE THE VIDEO STREAMING OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO UK CUSTOMERS?
Netflix
Price: £4.99 a month (with ads) OR £10.99/month for Standard OR £17.99/month for Premium
Hit shows:
- Bridgerton
- Squid Game
Amazon Prime
Price: £8.99 per month OR £95 per year
Hit shows:
- Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
- The Boys
Apple TV+
Price: £6.99 a month
Hit shows:
- Ted Lasso
- For All Mankind
Disney+
Price: £4.99 a month (with ads) OR £7.99/month for Standard OR £10.99/month for Premium
Hit shows:
- The Mandalorian
- The Simpsons
NOW TV
Price: From £6.99 a month (6 month) or £9.99 (flexible)
Hit shows:
- Game of Thrones
- Chernobyl
hayu
Price: £4.99 a month
Hit shows:
- Keeping up with the Kardashians
- Made in Chelsea
BritBox
Price: £5.99 a month OR £59.99 a year
Hit shows:
- Spitting Image
- Midsomer Murders
Prices correct as of September 2023
