Disney has officially announced it will launch an ad-supported subscription service Disney+ in the U.S. in late 2022 and expand it internationally in 2023. Currently, there is no word on pricing.
A more affordable subscription tier could boost subscriber growth, which The Information says has started to slow. Disney had more than 118 million subscribers in November, at the two year mark after the service launched, and it is now at over 130 million subscribers. Disney expects to have 230 to 260 million paid subscribers by 2024.
Discovery, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, and Paramount have all launched ad-supported subscription tiers to offer content at multiple price points. At the moment, Disney+ costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year. An ad-based tier would be cheaper than that.
Discovery+ and Paramount+ offer ad-supported tiers priced at $4.99, so Disney could potentially do something similar, allowing it to boost revenue to offset programming costs. Disney plans to spend at least $8 billion per year on Disney+ by 2024, and the company has so far been adding high-profile new content on a regular basis.
If Disney+ offers an ad-supported tier, it would make Apple TV+ and Netflix two of the only services not to offer a cheaper streaming option. Right now, Apple TV+ is priced competitively even with ad-based services at $4.99 per month, but Apple does not have the wealth of content that other streaming services are able to offer.