Big Changes and Price Increases Now Announced by the Walt Disney Company

Big changes and price increases are planned before the end of this year. Find out what changes we can expect and when.

Second Quarters Earnings Call

Bob Iger returned as Disney CEO back in November 2022. Many were hopeful that many issues would be addressed with the return of Bob Iger. Be sure to check out Bob Iger’s big plans for the Disney Parks this year HERE.

Today during the Second Quarter Earnings call, Iger address big changes coming to Disney+ and the overall performance of the Disney Parks.

Disney+ Subscribers

During the First Quarter Earnings Call, Disney+ subscription had taken a loss. It appears this downward slope continues for the streaming service. For the Second Quarter Earnings, Disney+ lost 4 million subscribers. This decline is largely seen in overseas streaming services from Disney Hotstar. Disney+ Hotstar lost 4.6 million subscribers.

In the United States and Canada Disney+ lost only about 300,000 subscribers. At the end of this quarter, Disney+ has 157.8 million subscribers.

Disney CFO, Christine McCarthy shares, “We will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms.” Not only will they be removing current content, but McCarthy shares, “We intend to produce lower volumes of content in alignment with this strategic shift.”

“We intend to produce lower volumes of content in alignment with this strategic shift.”

Christine McCarthy

Disney+ Price Increasing

Disney+ will increase the price of the ad-free subscription tier. Currently, this price is $11 a month or $110 for a year. By the end of the calendar year, this price will increase according to Iger.

This is in an effort to encourage more subscribers to switch to the streaming service with ads. This streaming tier may see a small increase in price or no increase at all according to Iger.

Disney+ will increase the price of the ad-free subscription tier by the end of this year.

Big Improvement

One positive improvement announced is planned for the Disney+ app. Disney will soon offer a “one-app experience to offer Hulu content within the Disney+ app. Subscribers can expect this change by the end of 2023.

Iger believes this will offer more unified streaming for subscribers.

Theme Park Performance

Iger shares “Results at our domestic parks and resorts were slightly unfavorable to the prior year quarter, as a decrease at Walt Disney World was largely offset by growth at Disneyland Resort.”

Walt Disney World’s revenue was slightly down from revenue earnings during the second quarter of 2022, but this is still up 50% over 2019 earnings.

International Parks saw a great financial increase with Disneyland Paris and the success of the Avengers Campus and Shanghai Disneyland is hopeful with the near completion of the Zootopia expansion

Biggest Reason for Park Success

Iger shares that they are making big changes in the Disney Parks. Earlier this week we shared many of these positive changes including the return of the dining plan, big changes for Disney Genie+, and Park Pass Reservations.

These big changes are largely due to the Walt Disney Company listening to the guests.

What do you think of these big changes with Diseny+? What content do you think they will remove from Disney+? Do you think decreasing new content will be an issue in the future? Share your thoughts with us in the comments and share this news with a fellow Disney pal.