Disney+ shakes up pricing after drop in subscribers

Disney+ is to change its UK pricing after losing 11.7 million customers internationally.

The streaming service, which currently costs UK users £7.99 a month, will introduce three new pricing tiers from 1 November.

It comes after the company revealed it suffered a 7.4% drop in Disney+ customers internationally, to 146.1 million in the three months to July.

The entertainment giant also reported a net loss of $460m (£360m) in the third quarter, compared with profits of $1.4bn (£1.1bn) during the same period last year.

Walt Disney chief executive Bob Iger said the firm was facing a “challenging environment”, but said it was on track to cut costs by billions of pounds and said revenue was up 4%.

He also vowed to introduce a crackdown on password sharing in 2024, although did not provide details.

It follows a similar move by streaming rival Netflix earlier this year.

Mr Iger also unveiled price increases for advert-free users of the service in the US, as he claimed the advertising market for streaming was “picking up” when compared with traditional TV spots.

“We’re obviously trying with our pricing strategy to migrate more subs to the advertising supported tier,” he added.

The new Disney+ UK pricing includes a cheaper plan of £4.99 a month with adverts, along with a £7.99 “standard” service which can be watched on two different devices at once.

A more expensive premium version, priced at £10.99 a month, will offer higher image quality and the ability for four different people to watch at once.

Existing subscribers to the service, which includes Star Wars and Marvel films, will automatically be transferred to the premium version – unless they request to switch their plan – and still be charged £7.99 a month up until December.

Similar shake-ups in pricing are being introduced across Europe and in Canada.

Elsewhere, Disney said it was boosted by its Shanghai Disney Resort, which was open for the full quarter – unlike the same time last year when COVID restrictions forced its closure for much of the period.

But the company also lost 12.5 million subscribers to its Disney Hotstar service in India after it gave up rights to Indian Premiere League cricket matches.