Disney+ Ads And A New Price Increase Are Coming (2 Viewers)

[Josh Steinberg]

Looks like my yearly subscription will renew at the old rate a couple weeks before the new rate kicks in, so I don’t have to consider this until late 2023.

If their offerings remain more or less on the same schedule and of the same quality as they are now, I will absorb the price increase without complaint. Before cutting the cord, I paid over $200 a month for basic cable and mediocre internet. Now I’m paying $40 a month for really good internet. If I maxed out with yearly ad free subscriptions to every service that I use now, my yearly spending is still well below what I used to spend on cable. And since most of my subscriptions aren’t left on year round, I’m coming in below even that number.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

OK, so the GF was starting the subscription to D+, but its not finalized, since we weren't going to fart around with Roku pay, and will complete the process online.

So, we were thinking of the monthly, but this begs for going annual now.

I was also debating the Hulu/D/ESPN+ option.

Thoughts? For lock-in and no ad crap?

I am already on Verizon, but it sounds like that won't lock in ad free...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

OK, so the GF was starting the subscription to D+, but its not finalized, since we weren't going to fart around with Roku pay, and will complete the process online.

So, we were thinking of the monthly, but this begs for going annual now.

I was also debating the Hulu/D/ESPN+ option.

Thoughts? For lock-in and no ad crap?

I am already on Verizon, but it sounds like that won't lock in ad free...

Unfortunately, there's (still) no discounted annual option for ad-free Hulu.

_Man_

 

[Capt D McMars]

But

Prime has had fantastic shows. Man In The High Castle and The Expanse are the exemplars.

The shows on Prime are also on other platforms. By spliting thier programing into free with prime and the ever expanding IMBd ad laiden free with ads programing, for me...it lessens Primes attraction!!! SH@# or get off the pot!! Allow total ad free or go free withads but there is no middle ground...again, this is just MY prefrences.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The shows on Prime are also on other platforms. By spliting thier programing into free with prime and the ever expanding IMBd ad laiden free with ads programing, for me...it lessens Primes attraction!!! SH@# or get off the pot!! Allow total ad free or go free withads but there is no middle ground...again, this is just MY prefrences.

Shows mentioned above, such as The Man in the High Castle, The Expanse, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, are produced by Amazon, are commercial-free, and are exclusive to Prime subscribers.

That being said, I've been a long-time Amazon Prime subscriber, but mostly for things other than video streaming. We get enough value from the other perks that I see the video streaming as a freebie.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Shows mentioned above, such as The Man in the High Castle, The Expanse, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, are produced by Amazon, are commercial-free, and are exclusive to Prime subscribers.

That being said, I've been a long-time Amazon Prime subscriber, but mostly for things other than video streaming. We get enough value from the other perks that I see the video streaming as a freebie.

Until when??? They decide thier losing more revenue? I'm glad it works for you, I just don't like a service changes horses in the middle of the stream. Leverage, The Saint, and other programs were free and adless before IMBd came into the picture. That is my biggest beef with Prime.

 

[David Norman]

My 3 year Prepaid $3.50+/month D+ ends sometime near the end of the year I guess. Not sure if I'll continue or not - ads or not. I'm fairly sure I haven't watched it enough to pay for itself though my wife has watched a couple dozen things on it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Until when??? They decide thier losing more revenue? I'm glad it works for you, I just don't like a service changes horses in the middle of the stream. Leverage, The Saint, and other programs were free and adless before IMBd came into the picture. That is my biggest beef with Prime.

Please, that is a discussion for another thread about Amazon Prime. We're talking about Disney+ here.

 

[DaveF]

Unfortunately, there's (still) no discounted annual option for ad-free Hulu.

_Man_

That’s a bummer. I wish Disney would figure out and commit to its Hulu strategy.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That’s a bummer. I wish Disney would figure out and commit to its Hulu strategy.

Right, they have so many movies from Fox and even Disney library they can be showing on Hulu or Disney+. They already began showing other "R" rated stuff on Disney+.

 

[DaveF]

Right, they have so many movies from Fox and even Disney library they can be showing on Hulu or Disney+. They already began showing other "R" rated stuff on Disney+.

And my understanding is the Hotstar service, Disney+ for Asia, is much more integrated with a "Star" section for a lot of such programs.

 

[John Dirk]

It seems that these streaming services need to learn the same truth that cable is still wrestling with, that is...You need US, we Don't need YOU!!!

Sadly that only applies when we act en masse, something consumers practically never do. "Divide and conquer" has eroded our collective power to the extent where companies can just ignore the relative few who refuse to comply with their grand plans. "Acceptable attrition." That's why I'm willing to go without certain content until it is offered on my terms. I'm happy to pay for content but I refuse to subscribe for it.

 

[DaveF]

I’m changing my phone plans. I’m realizing it might make sense to get the plan with the D+ combo included. And then sign up for Hulu separately. Will depends on relative costs. If getting Disney for “free” actually costs me more, that’s not useful.

A couple years ago I couldn’t see not paying for D+. It was super cheap and had loads of interesting movies and shows.

But 2022 and it’s going to cost me >2x what it has the past three years and D+ doesn’t have the breadth of programming I want to keep me paying for constant/random access.

 

[dpippel]

I'm of the same opinion, Dave. With this increase, D+ is going the way of HBO Max in our house. I'll re-sub here and there if something that interests me is added, but the days of paying for it every month just because it's cheap will be a thing of the past for me once the price goes up. And, I simply cannot abide ads on a streaming service I pay for, so the lower-priced tier does nothing for me.

 

[Chris Will]

IMO, Hollywood and the sports world will eventually have to hit the reset button on profits, million dollar budgets and salaries, etc. It's just not going to be sustainable in the future and that future is approaching fast. People have spoken and are done paying $100+ for cable and they won't sit by and accept streaming hitting those prices as well. At some point, these industries are just going to have to do with less. Young people growing up right now, like my 3 kids, are perfectly happy watching 10 minute videos made by people in their backyards on YouTube. One of my daughters watches other people playing video games on YT more than anything else. They don't need million dollar shows. We are a dying bread, what is Hollywood going to do when we are gone?

We've already dropped Hulu this year and considering dropping Netflix. Who's next? Offer me a free tier with ads, like YouTube. YT ads are many and annoying but, I don't pay a dime to watch YT so, fine. I will never pay a monthly subscription for a tier with ads. Peacock's "free" tier is a joke because so much is locked behind the paywall that still shows you ads. That is not the way to do it.

 

[Richard Kaufman]

I absolutely fucking refuse to watch anything with an advertisement that occurs during a program. All the free with ads services meaning NOTHING to me. They are worthless garbage.
Uh ... I might be overreacting.

 

[John Dirk]

IMO, Hollywood and the sports world will eventually have to hit the reset button on profits, million dollar budgets and salaries, etc. It's just not going to be sustainable in the future and that future is approaching fast.

I dunno... The majority of people I know are still content driven [particularly with live sports] so it's just a matter of coming up with the next "must-see" show or event. I've learned to be more genre driven in this new paradigm. There are certain shows I'd like to eventually see but I'm willing to wait.

Peacock's "free" tier is a joke because so much is locked behind the paywall that still shows you ads. That is not the way to do it.

For me anyway, Pluto strikes a fair balance. Commercials, yes, but not to the point where they're overwhelming. It kind of reminds me of old school TV.

 

[John Dirk]

I absolutely fucking refuse to watch anything with an advertisement that occurs during a program. All the free with ads services meaning NOTHING to me. They are worthless garbage.
Uh ... I might be overreacting.

So, not a sports fan?

I think this stance is perfectly fine as long as you don't simultaneously refuse to pay for subscriptions. That's where it becomes a problem.

 

[DaveF]

… Young people growing up right now, like my 3 kids, are perfectly happy watching 10 minute videos made by people in their backyards on YouTube. One of my daughters watches other people playing video games on YT more than anything else. They don't need million dollar shows. We are a dying bread, what is Hollywood going to do when we are gone?

I’m skeptical of extrapolating and saying that because kids don’t watch loads of longform scripted content now, they won’t be interested as adults.

I played with Star Wars toys bunches as a kid but only saw movies rarely. But it would have been a bad business prediction that movies were dead because all adults would be playing with 2.5” action figures.

But TBD. Maybe there won’t be anymore TV shows and movies in 2032 and we’re all stuck watching Twitch livestreams of Minecraft builds.

 

[Capt D McMars]

So, not a sports fan?

I think this stance is perfectly fine as long as you don't simultaneously refuse to pay for subscriptions. That's where it becomes a problem.

Agreed, as long as both parties (the service and the customer) are aware of what is being offered and what to expect. My complaint is the service changing the game whithout notice and expect loyalty from it's customers. paying the same or higher for programing with ads is a breaking of that aggreement.