Immediately add this to all business school curricula: When you have a tiny facsimile of Yoda on your side, the laws of pricing gravity don’t apply.
Prices for an ad-free Disney+ subscription went up 38% last December, and yet the service — streaming home to Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and more — retained 94% of its subscribers, per The Wall Street Journal.
Only 5% of users balked at the new $10.99/mo. charge and canceled. Less than 1% switched to the cheaper version with ads ($7.99/mo.).
This doesn’t mean the ad-supported version isn’t working
Data from Antenna shows the Disney+ “Basic” offering gaining traction.
- So far, 36% of new sign-ups have gone this less costly route. By comparison, adoption rates for HBO Max’s ad-bedazzled offering hover around 21%.
- Across its full streaming portfolio, Disney customers remain ever-increasing — Mickey and friends entered 2023 with 235.7m subs, per IndieWire.
A Peter Pan-like dedication to youth helps: About half of Disney+ subscribers are families with children.
All encouraging news for the people who really make dreams come true: Disney investors
Streaming is an expensive game — the company segment housing Disney+ has lost nearly $10B since 2019, per WSJ.
Widening its audience base and ad revenues through this new model is meant to help Disney close this gap.
- Plus: Existing Disney+ audiences not flinching at price increases may enable further bumps. (Case in point: $56 Disneyland tickets in 2005 vs. today’s $104 starting price. The park is still packed day in, day out.)
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