Better catch up on “The Mandalorian” while you can (for relatively cheap), because Disney+ is increasing its U.S. monthly subscription price by $1 on March 26, 2021. The monthly price for the streaming service will be upped by two euros across the pond.
Hey, all of the many announcements made Thursday at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day cost money — or, in The Walt Disney Company’s carefully chosen words, “add value.” The company announced a target of over 100 new titles per year for Disney+, and on Thursday, it felt like they rattled off 200 for 2021 alone.
Disney+ currently costs $6.99 per month, so the new monthly price in the U.S. will be $7.99. Another option, the more cost-effective annual subscription, will rise from $69.99 per year to $79.99 per year.
In Europe, the streaming service will increase its monthly price from €6.99 to €8.99, meaning Disney+ will cost Europeans the equivalent of just under $11.
There will be “similar increases” in other markets, CFO Christine M. McCarthy said at the four-plus-hour Investor Day.
It takes money to make money — Disney+ spent about $2 billion on content in 2020, according to McCarthy. The company now forecasts that content spend to grow to between “$8 and $9 billion” in 2024, she said — especially with the inclusion of its sixth brand, Star. The previous guidance for that year was about half of the new high end.
Disney+, which launched in November 2019, expects to hit peak losses next year and be profitable in fiscal 2024, the company’s chief financial officer said.
As of Dec. 2, Disney+ had 86.8 million subscribers. The company expects that number to skyrocket to a global paid total of 230-260 million by the end of fiscal 2024.
Disney’s stock (DIS) price jumped up to a new record high as executives announced the Disney+ subscriber number. Including after-hours activity, shares are currently trading at $160.80.
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