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Streaming is getting more expensive again. Disney is the latest media giant to raise prices for its streaming services, adding to a growing pattern across the industry. The increases come roughly a year after Disney’s last major streaming price hike. Disney is raising the price of its ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle to $21.99 a month, up from $19.99, whereas the ad-free stand-alone plans are each rising to $21.49 per month, up from $18.99. The company is also increasing the price of its stand-alone ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu plans to $12.49 a month. The new prices are reflected on Disney+’s support page. Bloomberg was the first to report the changes. Disney+ and Hulu are hardly alone. Streaming companies have spent the past several years steadily increasing prices. Peacock and Apple TV also raised prices in August, while Netflix increased prices earlier this year. When Disney+ launched in 2019, its basic monthly subscription cost $6.99. Since then, the service has gradually moved further away from that intro price as Disney has tried to turn streaming into a profitable part of its entertainment business. The latest increases come as streaming remains an increasingly important part of Disney’s overall business. In its third-quarter 2026 results, Disney said entertainment streaming revenue from Disney+ and Hulu rose 11% to $5.5 billion, driven by subscriber growth and the impact of previous price increases. At the same time, Disney appears to be exploring new ways to expand its streaming business beyond simply raising subscription prices. The company has reportedly explored the possibility of introducing a free tier for Disney+. This could put the company in more direct competition with platforms such as YouTube and Tubi, which have been capturing a growing share of consumers’ viewing time. Earlier this month, Disney+ also introduced “Playlists,” a new feature designed to help users discover and continuously watch curated selections of content. The company is making changes on the technology side as well. Disney recently hired Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer. Anand is the former CEO of Character.AI, a company Disney previously accused of infringing on its intellectual property.
document fetched 2026-09-24 02:51 · canonical https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/23/disney-and-hulu-add-to-the-growing-trend-of-streaming-inflation